BERLIN (AP) — Steffen Baumgart oversaw his first win as Union Berlin coach as his team ended its 11-game winless run with a 2-1 victory over Mainz in the Bundesliga on Sunday.
Goals from Benedict Hollerbach and Robert Skov gave Union its first win since October, and the first at the third attempt since former player Baumgart’s return as coach for the fired Bo Svensson.
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Berlin's Leopold Querfeld, left, battles for the ball with Armindo Sieb of FSV Mainz during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Union Berlin and 1. FSV Mainz 05 in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
Berlin's Jordan Siebatcheu, center, goes for the ball against Danny da Costa of FSV Mainz during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Union Berlin and 1. FSV Mainz 05 in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
Berlin's Robert Skov, left, and his teammate Jordan Siebatcheu, right, celebrate their side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Union Berlin and 1. FSV Mainz 05 in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
Berlin's scorer Benedict Hollerbach, left, and his teammate Robert Skov, right, celebrate the opening goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Union Berlin and 1. FSV Mainz 05 in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
Berlin's Robert Skov celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Union Berlin and 1. FSV Mainz 05 in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
“Everyone was aware of the pressure, but the nice thing is that every run ends at some point and maybe one also begins,” Baumgart said.
Hollerbach got the home team off to a great start when he won the ball from Mainz defender Danny da Costa and fired between the legs of goalkeeper Robin Zentner in the first minute.
The visitors were given a prompt way back when Aljoscha Kemlein was penalized for a robust challenge on Jae-Sung Lee.
Nadiem Amiri wasn’t put off by whistles from the crowd as he equalized from the spot in the fifth. Amiri ran past the Union fans with his finger to his mouth, urging them to be quiet, then performed a short dance, prompting a vulgar chant in response.
There has long been animosity between the player and Union fans going back to when Amiri, a Germany player whose parents are from Afghanistan, was allegedly racially abused by Union player Florian Hübner when Amiri was playing for Bayer Leverkusen in 2021. Hübner was later cleared of racial abuse after Amiri told a federation investigation that he could not rule out that different words might have been used, but the bad feeling remained between fans and the player.
Union’s fans quickly forgot about Amiri’s equalizer when Dominik Kohr conceded another penalty for a foul on Hollerbach. Skov duly fired the home team back in front from the spot in the 24th.
It proved to be the winner with Mainz only mounting a threat in the final minutes.
“I don’t know when the last win was, so this does a lot of good,” Hollerbach said. “In that sense, today was a drop in the ocean. We have to just keep going, not to get in another negative spiral.”
Also Sunday, Samuel Essende scored twice to lead Augsburg to a 2-0 win at Werder Bremen in the late game.
League leader Bayern Munich stayed four points ahead of defending champion Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, when both teams won their games against Wolfsburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach, respectively. The league rivals will play in Leverkusen on Feb. 15.
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Berlin's Leopold Querfeld, left, battles for the ball with Armindo Sieb of FSV Mainz during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Union Berlin and 1. FSV Mainz 05 in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
Berlin's Jordan Siebatcheu, center, goes for the ball against Danny da Costa of FSV Mainz during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Union Berlin and 1. FSV Mainz 05 in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
Berlin's Robert Skov, left, and his teammate Jordan Siebatcheu, right, celebrate their side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Union Berlin and 1. FSV Mainz 05 in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
Berlin's scorer Benedict Hollerbach, left, and his teammate Robert Skov, right, celebrate the opening goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Union Berlin and 1. FSV Mainz 05 in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
Berlin's Robert Skov celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Union Berlin and 1. FSV Mainz 05 in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and resume its fight against Hamas if the militant group does not go ahead with the next scheduled release of hostages on Saturday.
Hamas said Monday — and reiterated Tuesday — that it planned to delay the release of three more hostages after accusing Israel of failing to meet the terms of the ceasefire, including by not allowing enough tents and other aid into Gaza.
U.S. President Donald Trump has emboldened Israel to call for the release of even more remaining hostages on Saturday, but it wasn't immediately clear whether Netanyahu's threat referred to the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza, or just the three scheduled for release on Saturday.
Earlier Tuesday, an Israeli official said Netanyahu ordered the army to add more troops in and around the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu also ordered officials “to prepare for every scenario if Hamas doesn’t release our hostages this Saturday,” according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting.
Israel had signaled Monday it planned to reinforce defenses along the Gaza border. The all-scenario plan was announced during a four-hour meeting between Netanyahu and his Security Cabinet that focused on Hamas’ threat, which risks jeopardizing the three-week-old ceasefire.
So far, Hamas has released 21 hostages in a series of exchanges for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
President Donald Trump has said Israel should cancel the entire ceasefire if all of the roughly 70 hostages aren’t freed by Saturday. Hamas brushed off his threat on Tuesday, doubling down on its claim that Israel has violated the ceasefire and warned that it would only continue releasing hostages if all parties adhered to the ceasefire.
Trump is hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday as he escalates pressure on the Arab nation to take in refugees from Gaza — perhaps permanently — as part of his audacious plan to remake the Middle East.
Palestinians and the international community have seethed over Trump's recent comments that any Palestinians potentially expelled from Gaza would not have a right to return.
During the first six-week phase of the ceasefire, Hamas committed to freeing 33 hostages captured in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, while Israel said it would release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The sides have carried out five swaps since Jan. 19.
The war could resume in early March if no agreement is reached on the more complicated second phase of the ceasefire, which calls for the return of all remaining hostages and an indefinite extension of the truce.
But if Israel resumes the war, it will face a drastically different battlefield. After forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to evacuate to southern Gaza in the early stages of the war, Israel allowed many of those displaced people to return to what is left of their homes, posing a new challenge to its ability to move ground troops through the territory.
A Palestinian man wearing a red shirt, left, stands amidst the rubble of destroyed buildings, watching Israeli soldiers, bottom right, take position in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Displaced Palestinians, traveling in vehicles, wait in line to pass through a security checkpoint at the Netzarim corridor as they make their way from central Gaza to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Relatives and supporters of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip protest outside the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. after Hamas announced it would delay a planned hostage release after accusing Israel of violating a fragile ceasefire. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip block a highway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv a day after the militant group announced it would delay a planned hostage release after accusing Israel of violating a fragile ceasefire. Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Displaced Palestinians make their way from central Gaza to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A supporter of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip holds a sign during a protest on a highway after the militant group announced it would delay a planned hostage release after accusing Israel of violating a fragile ceasefire. in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Relatives and supporters of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip protest outside the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. after Hamas announced it would delay a planned hostage release after accusing Israel of violating a fragile ceasefire. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Displaced Palestinians make their way from central Gaza to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Israeli soldiers gather by the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Tuesday, Feb.11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)