BERLIN: Darmstadt’s relegation to Ger­many’s second tier was confirmed on Sunday evening with a 1-0 home defeat to Heidenheim.

Nikola Dovedan’s injury time winner sealed Darmstadt’s fate, leaving Torsten Lieberknecht’s team 11 points adrift of possible safety with three games to play.

Darmstadt, who were relegated from the Bundesliga in 2017 and sealed a return to the top-flight last year, have won just three games all season and needed a victory on Sunday to keep their hopes of survival alive.

Earlier on Sunday, Cologne’s Florian Kainz came off the bench to score a 95th minute penalty and salvage a 1-1 draw in Mainz 05.

Cologne remain second bottom and five points from the relegation play-off place that Mainz currently occupy but the last-gasp strike keeps Cologne’s hopes of a miraculous escape alive and prevented Mainz climbing two places.

Mainz are now two points behind Bochum and Union Berlin, who played out a 0-0 draw at Borussia Moenchengladbach earlier on Sunday, collecting only their second point since their last league win, on March 30.

Gladbach are still in danger, with only a two-point cushion on the two teams below them. The Foals have won just one of their last eight league games.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2024