05/03/26 03:17:00
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05/03 15:15 CDT Wolfsburg leaves St. Pauli closer to Bundesliga relegation,
Mainz and Gladbach are safe
Wolfsburg leaves St. Pauli closer to Bundesliga relegation, Mainz and Gladbach
are safe
By CIARAN FAHEY
AP Sports Writer
BERLIN (AP) --- Wolfsburg made ground in its bid for Bundesliga survival on
Sunday with a 1-1 draw at Freiburg.
It was enough for the Volkswagen-backed club to replace St. Pauli in the
relegation playoff place with two rounds remaining. St. Pauli lost 2-1 at home
to Mainz earlier and dropped into an automatic relegation place after eight
games without a win.
Wolfsburg star Christian Eriksen set up Konstantinos Koulierakis to break the
deadlock in the 55th in Freiburg.
But Philipp Lienhart equalized in the 75th with a glancing header to Johan
Manzambi's cross to send the ball in off the far post.
It left Wolfsburg just ahead of St. Pauli on goal difference, while both teams'
results kept last-place Heidenheim's hopes of survival alive for another week
at least.
"It's going to be a close race between the three of us," Wolfsburg coach Dieter
Hecking said.
Heidenheim on 23 points visits Cologne and then hosts Mainz in the final round,
while Wolfsburg (26 points) next faces champion Bayern Munich before a showdown
at St. Pauli on the last day. St. Pauli visits Champions League-chasing Leipzig
next weekend before Wolfsburg visits on May 16.
The bottom two are relegated automatically, while the team that finishes third
from bottom has a two-leg playoff against the third-place finisher from the
second division to determine which plays in the Bundesliga next season.
Seventh-place Freiburg next hosts Braga for the second leg of their Europa
League semifinal on Thursday. Braga won the first leg 2-1 in Portugal.
Mainz, Gladbach safe
Phillip Tietz and Phillipp Mwene scored in the first half for Mainz at St.
Pauli to secure its place in the division next season with no concerns about
relegation. Mainz had been bottom of the table with nine defeats from 13 games
when it appointed Urs Fischer as coach in December.
Also Sunday, Haris Tabakovic scored late for Borussia Mnchengladbach to clinch
its survival with a 1-0 win over second-place Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern Munich has already won the title with four rounds to spare. Schalke
clinched promotion back to the division on Saturday.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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