BERLIN: Union Berlin swept to a 3-1 win at Mainz in the Bundesliga on Sunday to give manager Marie-Louise Eta her first victory in charge.

Union won thanks to goals from Andrej Ilic, Oliver Burke and Josip Juranovic, while former Union forward Sheraldo Becker pulled one back for the hosts.

Eta, the first female coach of a men’s team in a top European league, took over in April and lost her first two games in charge before picking up her first point in a 2-2 home draw with Cologne last week.

The draw secured Union’s place in the Bundesliga next season.

As she has done since taking over the role, Eta deflected questions about being the first female coach to win a Bundesliga match and praised her players.

“We’re really happy that we could show such a good performance in a difficult match,” she told DAZN.

“You’re happy to win games, that’s always the case, and it was simply nice that we could do it in the style and manner we did. It’s pure joy.”

Earlier on Sunday, Bakery Jatta, Luka Vuskovic and Fabio Balde scored as promoted Hamburg celebrated securing top-flight status for next season by beating Europa League finalists Freiburg 3-2 at home.

Hamburg, who returned to the Bundesliga after seven seasons in the second division this campaign, offically beat the drop last week with a big win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

The 1983 European Cup winners were in fine form again to defeat Freiburg, who scored two goals through Igor Matanovic.

Freiburg could have secured a European spot with victory but will reach the Champions League and win a first major trophy in the club’s history if they beat Aston Villa in Istanbul on May 20.

Elsewhere, Heidenheim continued their late-season resurgence against the drop, winning 3-1 at Cologne thanks to a brace from Jan Schoeppner and an Arijon Ibrahimovic goal.

Stranded in the Bundesliga basement for much of the season, Heidenheim have lost just one of their past seven.

The win took them to 17th spot, level with 16th-placed VfL Wolfsburg and 18th-placed St Pauli, who play each other in the season’s final match next week.

In the Bundesliga, the team in 16th plays a two-legged relegation play-off against the third-placed second division side, while teams 17th and 18th are relegated.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2026