BERLIN (AP) — Marie-Louise Eta became the first female coach to take charge of a Bundesliga game, but her Union Berlin team failed to live up to the occasion on Saturday as it lost 2-1 to Wolfsburg.
Eta was appointed interim manager this week and now has four more games to ensure Union stays in the top division before she takes over Union’s women’s team for next season.
Patrick Wimmer and Dženan Pejčinović scored early in each half for visiting Wolfsburg
to end its 12-game run without a win and revive its hopes of escaping relegation. Wolfsburg remains second to last but it’s just two points behind St. Pauli in the relegation playoff place with four rounds remaining.
Union ultimately paid the price for a lack of efficiency after creating the better chances and finishing strongly. Oliver Burke’s goal in the 85th minute was too late for the Köpenick-based team, which was also frustrated by late saves from Wolfsburg's Kamil Grabara.
“If you shoot 26 times at goal or try to shoot at goal then you're doing a lot right, and from that point of view the performance was in order today,” Union right back Christopher Trimmel said. “Still, we need to improve on some aspects.”
Union, which has only won two games in 2026, fired Steffan Baumgart after last weekend’s loss at Heidenheim and finds itself just six points above the relegation zone.
Eta previously made history in 2023 as the first female assistant coach in the men’s Bundesliga, also at Union, and has been coaching the under-19 men’s team at the club, where she's affectionately known as Louie.
“For Louie, of course it's difficult to impose all the new things in just three or four days so everything can be implemented immediately. That's perfectly understandable. It would have been difficult for any coach, and yet we still managed to execute a solid match plan well. A lot of things worked out,” Trimmel said. “I’m staying positive.”
Andrej Kramarić scored two penalties for Hoffenheim in a 2-1 win over second-placed Borussia Dortmund. That opens the way for Bayern Munich to seal the title at home against Stuttgart on Sunday.
Bayern, which has five games remaining compared to Dortmund’s four, leads by 12 points and needs just one more point to be sure of finishing top.
Werder Bremen boosted its survival hopes with a 3-1 win at home against Hamburger SV in their northern derby. Bremen moved level with the visitors on 31 points, five points above St. Pauli.
Midtable Augsburg defeated Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 away and dented the home team’s hopes of Champions League qualification.
Eintracht Frankfurt hosted Leipzig later.
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