Bundesliga roundup: Missed opportunities for Union Berlin, Freiburg

Union Berlin missed a chance to draw level with second-placed Bayern Munich, with a scoreless draw at home against Cologne on Saturday.

The result, Union's third 0-0 draw in their past five matches, saw the third-placed Berliners fall five points behind Bayern after the Bavarians beat Stuttgart later on Saturday.

Chances were few throughout and despite some late attacking changes from Union manager Urs Fischer, the visitors held firm.

Fischer singled out goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow for particular praise, telling Sky: "Cologne were a bit more dangerous... we can thank our goalkeeper for keeping us in the game."

Ronnow admitted his side were struggling to recapture the form which saw them burst out of the blocks after the winter break, saying "we lost the ball too often, we had no rhythm."

Cologne manager Steffen Baumgart, who was twice named Union's player of the year during his time playing in Berlin, said he was "happy with the point - we worked hard for it."

Elsewhere, Freiburg missed a chance to overtake RB Leipzig into the Champions League places, drawing 0-0 away to Borussia Moenchengladbach.

France striker Marcus Thuram won Gladbach a second-half penalty but the spot kick was overturned by VAR, which found insufficient contact with the forward's foot.

Gladbach were reduced to 10 men with three minutes remaining when Algerian wing-back Ramy Bensebaini picked up a second yellow for kicking the ball away in frustration.

At the other end of the table, Schalke boosted their hopes of avoiding a direct return to the second division, winning 2-0 away at fellow strugglers Bochum.

The win, set up by a first-half goalkeeping howler from Bochum's Manuel Riemann and a clever second-half strike from Marius Buelter, was Schalke's first away victory in the top flight since November 2019. 

Schalke, who had anchored the Bundesliga table since October, are unbeaten in their last six games ahead of next week's clash with derby rivals Borussia Dortmund. 

Mainz lifted themselves to seventh with a hard-fought 1-0 home win over Hoffenheim, thanks to a first-half strike from Leandro Barreiro.

The result was the visitors' seventh loss in eight matches in 2023, leaving Hoffenheim in grave relegation danger.

Augsburg lifted themselves eight points clear of the relegation spots with a 2-1 home win over Werder Bremen.