Soccer-Union drop to third after 0-0 home draw with strugglers Schalke

Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Union Berlin v Schalke 04 - Stadion An der Alten Forsterei, Berlin, Germany - February 19, 2023 1. FC Union Berlin players applaud fans after the match REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

BERLIN (Reuters) -Union Berlin missed the chance to move top of the Bundesliga after stumbling to a 0-0 draw against bottom side Schalke 04 on Sunday to slip to third place on goal difference.

Union, who had won all of their previous league matches this year, created far too few chances against their struggling visitors, who have now played four goalless draws in a row.

"It was a game where both teams neutralised each other," Union coach Urs Fischer said. "In the end we have to be satisfied with the way the game was played and with the result. I can live with that."

"I think we were lacking at times a bit of courage. Obviously we would have liked to have won it."

Both sides were solid at the back and allowed few opportunities for their opponents in a lacklustre first half.

Union were more aggressive after the break but their best chance came only in the 82nd minute when Jordan, under pressure from two defenders, sent a Sheraldo Becker cut-back from close range over the bar.

The result left Union on 43 points from 21 games, the same as leaders Bayern Munich, who lost 3-2 at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday, and Borussia Dortmund, 4-1 winners over visiting Hertha Berlin on Sunday.

Schalke have 13 points, six adrift of the safety zone.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; editing by Clare Fallon and Ken Ferris)