BERLIN: Freiburg mis­sed a chance to grab fourth spot after a goalless draw away at Augsburg on Sunday.

Freiburg came into the game riding high after four straight victories but were held by a dominant Augsburg defence.

Augsburg had the better of the goalscoring chances and had a shot at claiming all three points in stoppage time, but Steve Mounie hit the post.

“There were opportunities to be dangerous, but we didn’t manage to produce them often enough,” Freiburg coach Julian Schuster told DAZN.

Freiburg, who have never played Champions League football, finish the weekend in fifth, one point behind fourth-placed Mainz.

Augsburg, who lingered dangerously close to the relegation spots earlier in the season, extended their unbeaten run to eight games and are now six points behind the European spots.

Earlier on Sunday, Holstein Kiel boosted their slim chances of avoiding the drop with a 1-0 win away at fellow strugglers Union Berlin.

Kiel’s Armin Gigovic scored the only goal, finding the net after 43 minutes.

Gigovic collected a pass from Shuto Machino on the turn and slotted home from close range to give the Storks the lead in the German capital.

Phil Harres had the ball in the net for Kiel with 61 minutes gone, but the strike was ruled out for offside.

The loss was the latest setback in a bad week for Union.

On Friday, Union lost an appeal against a DFB decision to strip them of a point -- and award Bochum all three — from a 1-1 draw at home in December.

Bochum, who like Union are battling to avoid the drop, were awarded a nominal 2-0 victory after their goalkeeper was hit in the head by a lighter thrown by a member of the Berlin crowd.

Kiel’s victory, just their fourth of the season and their first away from home, lifted the promoted side off the bottom of the table, one point behind Bochum who occupy the relegation playoff spot.

The Berliners sit two spots and seven points ahead of Kiel, with 10 games remaining.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2025