BELFAST, Northern Ireland (Interstat) — In a chaotic and statistically improbable conclusion, the under-17 sides of 1. FC Nürnberg and SC Freiburg played to a 0-0 draw on Saturday in a German youth league match that featured five disallowed goals and a pivotal late intervention from the video assistant referee.

The GER: U17 Bundesliga fixture, staged at Queen’s University Malone Playing Fields as part of the league’s schedule, defied both the pregame projections and the frantic action on the pitch, where three Freiburg goals and two from Nürnberg were all ruled out by the officiating crew.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a 2-1 victory for Nürnberg, with its ELO system giving the home side a 92.4 percent probability to win. The result instead leaves both teams with identical 2-3-2 records through seven matches in the U17 Bundesliga South/Southwest division, which was in its 10th week of play.

The match unraveled into controversy early and often. Freiburg’s Leon Sawas saw an opening goal chalked off in the 21st minute. Teammate Deniz Bilgic followed by having a 26th-minute strike canceled, compounding his frustrating afternoon which later included a yellow card in the 75th minute.

Nürnberg, designated the home team for the contest, also fell victim to the officials’ rulings. What appeared to be an equalizing goal from Freiburg’s Elijah Oguguo in the 45th minute — recorded as an own goal against his team — was disallowed. After halftime, Nürnberg defender Esad Akgün of Schweinfurt, Germany, thought he had scored in the 58th minute, only for it to be ruled out.

The most dramatic sequence came in the 75th minute. Shortly after Bilgic received his booking, Nürnberg midfielder Noah Keller found the net, seemingly securing a late winner for his side. However, after a lengthy VAR review, the goal was overturned, preserving the improbable scoreless deadlock.

The defensive stalemate, anchored by key 90-minute performances from Nürnberg’s Akgün and Freiburg’s Oguguo, represents a missed opportunity for both sides to gain ground in the league table. Freiburg, coming off a 3-0 win over 1860 München, sees its modest two-game unbeaten run extended to three but will rue the lost points. Their overall record across all competitions moves to 3-2-2.

For Nürnberg, the draw halts a two-game skid in league play, following a scoreless draw with Eintracht Frankfurt and a loss to RB Leipzig. Their overall record now stands at 2-4-2. The team has shown a pattern of high-scoring games, with a 5-0 win and a 5-2 loss already this season, making Saturday’s anomalous blank scoreline particularly striking.

Both teams return to action on April 25. Freiburg U17 will host Bayern München U17, while Nürnberg U17 travels to face Kaiserslautern U17.