Union Berlin lost their first match under interim female head coach Marie-Louise Eta in the German Bundesliga, on Saturday.
The mid-table side lost 2-1 to relegation-threatened VFL Wolfsburg to begin Eta’s landmark appointment as the first female Bundesliga coach with defeat.
Eta, formerly an under-19 coach, was promoted to assistant coach by the club in 2023, and became interim head coach last week following the sack of Steffen Baumgart.
She will be in the role until the end of the season.
Her debut ended in defeat and also handed Wolfsburg their first win in 13 league matches to reignite their hopes of beating relegation.
Patrick Wimmer gave the visitors the lead on 11 minutes, and Dženan Pejčinović doubled the lead with a long range strike from Christian Eriksen’s assist.
Union Berlin had 27 attempts at goal in the encounter, and got what proved to be a consolation goal on 85 minutes through Oliver Burke.
Following the defeat, 34-year-old Eta stated her disappointment at losing despite the dominance in attack.
“First of all I am disappointed to have lost this game at home but approve of the way we played.”
“We talked about a lot of things during the week and today it was about focusing on the essential thing which is football. I was happy to have coached this game at the Alte Foersteri stadium but at the end of the day we are disappointed.”
Union Berlin remain in 11th place, six points off relegation spot, while 17th-placed Wolfsburg are only two points away from relegation playoff position.
