Irvine sees red as Pauli draws at Union
Australia's Jackson Irvine was sent off late in the game as St Pauli blew a lead to draw 1-1 at Union Berlin in the Bundesliga.
Irvine was booked initially in the 85th minute for a foul before receiving his marching orders for second bookable offencein stoppage-time when he dived in on Andras Schafer as Union launched a late counter-attack.
The Socceroos star had been involved when Pauli took the lead in the 25th minute.
A Pauli free-kick went into the box and Irvine took a shot, but his effort was blocked. The ball rebounded to the edge of the box, where Mathias Pereira Lage hit a sensational volley into the back of the net.
Pauli took that lead into the break, but Union was level within seven minutes of the restart when Derrick Koln whipped in a corner and AndrejIlic rose highest to head home.
Union had the better of the play, but was unable to breakthough, and Irvine's late mis-timed challenge was perhaps a symptom of the pressure Pauli finds itself under, with time running out to get clear of the relegation battle in the Bundesliga.
Pauli is four points clear of the relegation play-off spot with 25 points and would have been happy to see Wolfsburg, the team currently occupying that position, lose its match at Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday (AEST).
Irvine's red card will be costly, though, as the Pauli captain will now miss the home clash against league leader Bayern Munich next weekend.
