Union Berlin boosted their hopes of playing in the Bundesliga for the first time in their history after earning a 2-2 draw at Stuttgart in the first leg of the promotion/relegation play-off.
Stuttgart, who came 16th this season having finished just four points adrift of third place in 2017/18, twice took the lead at a sold-out Mercedes-Benz Arena but Union levelled both times.
Union had the better of the chances in the opening half-hour with Stuttgart goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler somehow managing to deflect Sebastian Andersson’s close-range effort onto the roof of the net.
That advantage lasted less than a minute, however, as Union equalised almost straight from the restart when Suleiman Abdullahi latched onto Andersson’s flick-on before beating Zieler.
The veteran hitman raced from inside his own half before unleashing a shot that took a heavy deflection off Union defender Marvin Friedrich – hitting his foot and then his face – to beat the wrong-footed Rafal Gikiewicz.
Union might well have snatched a winner in the closing stages but Zieler produced a stunning one-handed save in the 79th minute to tip over Andersson’s equally brilliant dipping shot, before repeating the feat from the Sweden striker’s stoppage-time header.
