St. Pauli edges closer to Bundesliga relegation, Mainz and Gladbach are safe

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St. Pauli's Arkadiusz Pyrka, left, and Mainz's Phillipp Mwene battle for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC St. Pauli and FSV Mainz 05 in Hamburg, Germany, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP)

St. Pauli's Arkadiusz Pyrka, left, and Mainz's Nadiem Amiri battle for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC St. Pauli and FSV Mainz 05 in Hamburg, Germany, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP) — St. Pauli's Arkadiusz Pyrka, left, and Mainz's Phillipp Mwene battle for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC St. Pauli and FSV Mainz 05 in Hamburg, Germany, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP)

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1:56 PM on Sunday, May 3

By CIARÁN FAHEY

BERLIN (AP) — St. Pauli lost 2-1 at home to Mainz to edge closer to Bundesliga relegation, with Wolfsburg hoping to take advantage later Sunday.

Phillip Tietz and Phillipp Mwene scored in the first half for Mainz to secure its place in the division next season with no concerns about relegation. Mainz had been bottom of the table with nine defeats from 13 games when it appointed Urs Fischer as coach in December.

Wolfsburg was playing at Freiburg later and could move above St. Pauli into the relegation playoff place by avoiding defeat.

The bottom two are relegated automatically, while the team that finishes third from bottom has a two-leg playoff against the third-place finisher from the second division to determine which plays in the Bundesliga next season.

Also Sunday, Haris Tabaković scored late for Borussia Mönchengladbach to clinch its survival with a 1-0 win over second-place Borussia Dortmund.

Two rounds remain after this weekend.

Bayern Munich has already won the title with four rounds to spare. Schalke clinched promotion back to the division on Saturday.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer