In Hamburg, Germany, Tiago Pereira Cardoso, the young goalkeeper from Luxembourg, experienced a challenging moment in his otherwise stellar Bundesliga debut when he conceded a goal during Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 1-1 draw against St. Pauli.
Regular goalkeepers Moritz Nicolas and Jonas Omlin have been sidelined due to injuries and other issues, granting Cardoso an unexpected opportunity to start for Gladbach, which is aiming for a spot in the Champions League.
Just a day shy of his 19th birthday, Cardoso was on track to complete his fourth consecutive match without allowing a goal, leading Gladbach to another victory until St. Pauli’s Dapo Afolayan launched a powerful shot from a long distance in the 85th minute.
Despite Cardoso’s full-stretch dive, he couldn’t quite reach the ball. Gladbach’s earlier lead came courtesy of a header from defender Ko Itakura.
This draw was a blow to Gladbach’s ambitions as they remained in sixth position in the Bundesliga, just two points behind Mainz, which occupies the crucial fourth Champions League qualifying spot. Meanwhile, St. Pauli sits in 15th place out of the league’s 18 teams.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Union Berlin continued its unbeaten streak to four matches with a narrow 1-0 victory over Wolfsburg.
The decisive goal came in the 62nd minute when Benedict Hollerbach reached the ball promptly after Leopold Querfeld’s looping header evaded the defense.
Following this match, Union Berlin holds the 13th spot in the standings, with Wolfsburg just one place ahead in 12th.