Bosnia keeper Nikola Vasilj’s saves help St. Pauli hold on for a point against Union Berlin

By Canadian Press on April 5, 2026.

BERLIN (AP) — More goalkeeping heroics from Bosnia-Herzegovina’s World Cup qualification star Nikola Vasilj meant St. Pauli held on for a 1-1 draw with Union Berlin on Sunday as it struggles to avoid relegation from the Bundesliga.

In his first game since his saves helped see the Bosnian team past Italy in the World Cup qualifying playoffs, Vasilj faced eight shots on target and stood out with a double save, though it came after he’d given the ball away. The only one that went in was a towering header from Union striker Andrej Ilic at a corner.

St. Pauli had earlier taken the lead when Mathias Pereira Lage delivered a fierce long-distance volley to open the scoring, and created little after that.

St. Pauli held on for the final three minutes with 10 men after its Australian captain Jackson Irvine was sent off for two yellow cards in the space of eight minutes, both for late tackles.

Even a point for St. Pauli was bad news for Wolfsburg, which is on course for an historic first relegation from the Bundesliga after losing 6-3 to Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday. A fixture in the Bundesliga since 1997, Wolfsburg is now four points adrift of any chance of safety.

The bottom two teams, Wolfsburg and Heidenheim, are relegated directly to the second division. The team in 16th, currently St. Pauli, goes into a two-leg playoff against the third-place team from the second tier.

Union stays 10th.

Cologne is 15th and faces Eintracht Frankfurt later Sunday.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

The Associated Press