St Pauli slips up late to drop vital points
St Pauli conceded a late penalty against FC Koln in their crucial Bundesliga six pointer, settling for a 1-1 at home draw that leaves it still seriously threatened by relegation to the second tier.
The hosts, led by Australia's Jackson Irvine who returned from suspension, remain in the relegation play-off spot, and Werder Bremen could increase the gap above it to five points if it wins its match against Hamburg on Saturday.
Pauli entered the match winless since late February, having collected just two points from its previous five league games.
Cologne, meanwhile, was unbeaten in four matches ahead of the match, a run extended to five, and fresh off a 3-1 victory over Bremen last time out.
Only five points separated the sides before kick-off, but neither could find a breakthrough in the first half.
But it was Pauli that created the first opportunity of the second period when Andreas Hountondji's effort was repelled by Marvin Schwabe in the visitors' goal. Said El Mala rattled the opposite crossbar shortly after as the Billy Goats fired a warning back to their hosts in the 54th minute.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 69th minute when Karol Mets headed home from close range, but four minutes from time, he turned the villian, bringing down Jakub Kaminski in the box, conceding a penalty after check on the video assistant referee's monitor.
Substitute Luca Waldschmidt stepped up and sent Nikola Vasilj the wrong way to level the scores, leaving Pauli's players again scratching their heads.
Pauli faces bottom club Heidenheim next week in a match it simply must win to try and stay out of trouble, while for Koln, now five points clear of danger with four games left to play, things look a lot brighter.
