The woodwork came to Paderborn's rescue on two occasions as they played out a goalless draw away to relegation rivals Fortuna Dusseldorf.
It was the first game to be played for both sides since the Bundesliga was postponed on the 13th March due to the covid-19 crisis, and for this reason, the game took place behind closed doors at the Merkur Spielarena.
The relegation encounter took a while to get going with both sides trying to get a spell of possession on the ball. However it was the hosts who created the first opportunity on the 14th minute mark, when Valon Berisha slipped in right wing back Matthias Zimmerman, but his first time strike was blocked out for a corner kick.
Four minutes later, Berisha then hit the post when he volleyed a cross from the left on to the post via a deflection.
In the 27th minute the first shot on target was achieved, when Erik Thommy's effort from outside the area was held at the second attempt by Paderborn goalkeeper Leopold Zingerle.
Then, a few minutes after the half hour mark, the home side had another chance to break the deadlock, when centre back Kaan Ayhan headed just wide of the left hand post, when he rose highest to meet a free kick from the right hand side.
The visitors created their first opportunity nine minutes before the interval when a free kick from range by Kai Proger was hit with power, but Florian Kastenmeier watched it well and managed to parry the ball to safety.
After the break, the encounter restarted quite slowly with the first chance of the half falling again to Berisha, when a cross from the left found the midfielder unmarked inside the area, but his header cannoned off the crossbar and eventually was hacked away to safety.
With opportunities being proved hard to come by, especially in the second half, Paderborn could have nicked a vital three points when a low cross from the left by substitute Gerrit Holtmann, found Christopher Antwi- Adjei free inside the area but somehow he directed his effort wide of the mark, when it looked easier to score.
That miss is one that Steffen Baumer's side would ultimately regret, as the game finished 0-0, meaning that his team are six points away from moving out of the relegation zone, and a further nine points from moving out of the relegation play- offs.
On the other hand, this result for Dusseldorf means that they are only three points away from drifting outside of the relegation play- offs, with 15th placed 1. FSV Mainz 05 playing away to 1. FC Koln tomorrow.
