Bundesliga roundup: Afolayan earns point for St. Pauli, Union beat Wolfsburg

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

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.

Visiting striker Tim Kleindienst, the current Germany number one, slammed his side's performance.

"We played an incredibly bad game. You had the feeling we could've played another 10 hours and not brought anything reasonable onto the pitch," he said.

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 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.

Former Union striker Kevin Behrens, who moved to Wolfsburg in January 2024, 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, including wins against European hopefuls Eintracht Frankfurt, Freiburg and Wolfsburg, along with a draw with Bayern Munich.

The loss was Wolfsburg's third in a row, leaving their hopes of returning to Europe hanging by a thread.