St Pauli defeat Kiel 3-1 to claim 1st home win of the season

St Pauli Hamburg prevailed in the duel of promoted teams against Bundesliga debutants Holstein Kiel with a 3-1 win on Friday to claim their first home victory of the season, reported dpa.

"We've already played some good games at home and haven't been rewarded. Today it finally happened," St Pauli defender Hauke Wahl told broadcasters DAZN.

Manolis Saliakas broke the deadlock for St Pauli in the 25th minute, scoring the team's first goal on home ground this term. Saliakas drilled a stunning first-time kick into the net after receiving the ball at the edge of the box.

Kiel had a big chance to level shortly before the break after Lewis Holtby was brought down into the box, but Fiete Arp's spot-kick was saved by goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj.

The hosts then increased their lead through Morgan Guilavogui after a super counterattack in the 56th and Johannes Eggestein put the game to bed in the 85th.

"From the moment Niko saved the penalty, a lot went our way. We then scored the goals at the right time," Wahl said.

Phil Harres pulled one back for Kiel in stoppage time, but it was already too late for a comeback.

Arp apologized to the fans for missing the penalty, saying: "I'm just incredibly sorry for the team, for the game today. Simply pooly taken. I'm sorry for the fans, for everything we set out to do today. It would have been a great moment to come back with the momentum."

While Kiel are playing their first-ever Bundesliga season, St Pauli are back in the top tier for the first time since the 2010-11 season.

Champions Bayer Leverkusen visit Union Berlin, while leaders Bayern Munich have a top clash at Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.