The hosts thought they had gone 1-0 up barely three minutes in when Angelo Stiller’s free-kick was powered in by Ermedin Demirovic, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.
St. Pauli could then have had a great chance of opening the scoring themselves were it not for 19-year-old Finn Jeltsch’s excellent sliding interception to prevent Andreas Hountondji’s cross from reaching Mathias Pereira Lage.
On 23 minutes, Tiago Tomas’ electrifying dribble saw him break into the St. Pauli penalty area, where he was caught by visiting captain Eric Smith. There wasn’t loads of contact, but enough to convince referee Sascha Stegemann to point to the spot, but Stiller was unable to make the most of a golden opportunity, as he placed his effort nowhere near the left-hand corner, helping Nikola Vasilj to make the save.
No doubt still haunted by that moment, Stiller again left the home fans exasperated when he passed up the chance to shoot first time, instead working his way inside before being thwarted by Vasilj.
The game looked set to be goalless heading into half-time, but Demirovic ensured that wasn’t the case, showing great composure to hold onto the ball after receiving it from Jamie Leweling before manoeuvring his way past Smith and dinking it over Vasilj.
Stuttgart were not content to just sit on their lead and doubled it on 50 minutes as Leweling’s cross was diverted by Demirovic into the path of Leicester City loanee Bilal El Khannouss, who stroked home beautifully for his first goal at his new club.
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St. Pauli almost provided the perfect response as Louis Oppie hit the crossbar on the half-volley, before Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nubel pushed away Pereira Lage’s side-footer.
At the other end, Vasilj soon stopped Demirovic from getting a brace, and shortly after, Stiller then saw a goal chalked off due to Demirovic again being in an offside position.
St. Pauli head coach Alexander Blessin introduced Dapo Afolayan and Martijn Kaars, with the pair almost combining to great effect before Nubel produced a brilliant stop to frustrate Afolayan.
That momentum petered out though, and despite further alterations by Blessin, his side fell to their first defeat of the season, missing out on the opportunity to move top of the league in the process.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jamie Leweling (Stuttgart)
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