BERLIN: Oladapo Afolayan scored with five minutes remaining as St Pauli snatched a 1-1 home draw on Sunday against Borussia Moenchengladbach.

St Pauli, promoted this season and hovering narrowly above the relegation spots, were on top against a Gladbach side needing a win to return to the European places, but were unable to break through.

The hosts, the lowest scorers in the Bundesliga this season, were especially dominant in the first half but were wasteful in front of the net and could not turn their pressure into goals.

Gladbach’s Ko Itakura headed the visitors in front from a corner in first-half stoppage time.

St Pauli striker Elias Saad had a frustrating day, spurning several chances in front of goal, before Afolayan broke through with a stunner from well outside the box on the 85th-minute mark.

The draw meant St Pauli finish the weekend four points above Heidenheim in the relegation playoff spot, with six games remaining.

Gladbach are sixth, in the Europa Conference League spot and two points behind Mainz in the final Champions League position.

In Sunday’s late game, Union Berlin all but secured top division football next season with a 1-0 home win over VfL Wolfsburg thanks to a goal from Benedict Hollerbach.

Hollerbach scored in the 63rd minute, tapping in a Tom Rothe header to settle a tight encounter in the German capital.

Ex-Union striker Kevin Behrens had a golden chance to level things late on, but somehow chipped a rolling ball over the bar from less than a metre.

The victory took Union, who were in the Champions League last season while battling relegation in the league, to 33 points, 11 clear of Heidenheim in the relegation playoff spot.

Union have now claimed 10 points from their last four games. The loss was Wolfsburg’s third in a row, leaving their hopes of returning to Europe hanging by a thread.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2025