It took just six minutes for Die Werkself to open the scoring, as Florian Wirtz effortlessly nutmegged Eric Smith and struck past Nikola Vasilj for the 30th Bundesliga goal of his career.
Leverkusen largely looked comfortable after going ahead, although there was a scare when Jonathan Tah’s attempted pass hit Morgan Guilavogui before the ball looped into Lukáš Hrádecký’s grateful grasp.
Having escaped embarrassment at one end, Tah made his mark at the other as he lost Jackson Irvine and clinically headed home from Aleix García’s corner.
While Dapo Afolayan hit an ambitious shot from range that was routinely held by Hrádecký, Leverkusen continued to move the ball nicely and could have had an opportunity at the end of a brilliantly worked move if it wasn’t for an untimely slip from Arthur.
Nathan Tella then thought he had added a Leverkusen third when he rounded Vasilj and slid the ball into the gaping net but had strayed marginally offside, and Afolayan caused a moment of panic shortly after as he beat Edmond Tapsoba before seeing his low ball cleared.
Backed by a vociferous away support, Die Kiezkicker kept competing after the restart and Philipp Treu had Hrádecký scampering with a cross that somehow wasn’t turned in by Guilavogui at the back post.
There was further disbelief as Afolayan’s low cross was diverted wide by Guilavogui, and Xabi Alonso responded by introducing Jeremie Frimpong on the hour mark.
The Dutchman was gifted the ball in a dangerous position and teed up Wirtz for a shot that was uncharacteristically scuffed wide, before Irvine put in a vital tackle to deny Tella an opportunity.
After Tella had another strike ruled out, St Pauli finally got their goal as Guilavogui twisted Arthur inside out and smashed his strike past Hrádecký in the 84th minute.
That brought nerves to the home crowd, but Andreas Albers headed into the side netting as they couldn’t deny Die Werkself a fifth consecutive win across all competitions and a third successive Bundesliga victory for the first time this season.
In contrast, it’s a third defeat in four league fixtures for St Pauli after they beat Holstein Kiel last time out.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Aleix García (Bayer Leverkusen)
