Home away from home. “We couldn’t have wished for a nicer away game,” said Christian Günter after the game. For SC, it was a “home coming”, as head coach Christian Streich had earlier explained. The well-known dressing rooms, the familiar path from the dressing rooms to the tunnels and out into the stadium facing the fir-covered hills behind the Dreisam and Nordtribüne. Once again, like the last competitive game for the first team at the Dreisamstadion, a 3-0 win against FC Augsburg in September 2021, they were the away team, but nevertheless it felt like a home game.

With the Nordtribüne full of SC fans creating a great atmosphere chanting “away win”, SC got their first competitive game of the new season underway. As usual this was in the DFB-Pokal, a competition that SC have enjoyed success in in the last two seasons and which Streich described as an “excellent competition.” As expected, SC played with a high line, Matthias Ginter was the furthest player back standing on the halfway line, but Oberachern defended diligently and when they won the ball back they didn’t just play directly forward immediately, but tried to play with the ball on the ground, exactly as Streich predicted. After an error in build-up from SC, it was the fifth-division side that had the first chance, with Maximilian Eggestein just able to prevent a shot (7’). Oberachern played with a lot of courage and didn’t shy away from any challenges.

The post comes to the rescue

SC first chance in the eighth minute was similar, with Roland Sallai played the ball into the penalty area from the left-hand side, but Michael Gregoritsch narrowly missed. The ball suddenly found its way into the Freiburg net following a freekick after 14 minutes, and all those in blue began to celebrate. However, the assistant referee’s flag was quickly raised for offside and the game remained 0-0. After a nice bit of combination play from Sallai, Michael Gregoritsch and Lucas Höler, the Hungarian took a shot from a tight angle which flew narrowly wide – one of the only chances in the first 20 minutes. SC almost conceded after 27 minutes, with Cemal Durmus hammering a freekick into the post from the edge of the box. A lucky escape for SC.

Streich stood patiently on the touchline but gave his players some pretty clear instructions. His body language betrayed how he felt and SC had not impressed so far and were struggling in attack against a dogged Oberachern side. “The first half was difficult, Oberachern honestly played really, really well. They were brave. We didn’t have any good positional play and didn’t occupy good spaces,” said Streich summarising the first 45 minutes.

Oberachern were keen to try their luck when they could, with Nico Huber trying to catch Atubolu out from the centre circle (38’) and Durmus shooting from distance moments later. Kiliann Sildillia had a header from a corner in the 45th minute, but it was too central.

SC pile on the pressure and make the breakthrough

SC raised the tempo again after the break. Höler and Philipp Lienhart were looking dangerous on the left side, with no-one on the end of a teasing ball into the box on 50 minutes. When Huber suddenly found himself completely free in front of the SC goal, the volume rose among the Oberachern fans, but the striker only found the side netting and the assistant referee’s flag went up. During this period, the game took place mainly around the hosts’ penalty area. Sallai had a good chance in the 56th minute but shot directly into the arms of Redl.

Christian Günter was subbed on and did exactly what he did against VfL Wolfsburg last season: He came on and with his first touch of the ball, he fired his team ahead. 1-0 SC in the 60th minute. A thunderbolt. “I love to shoot from those positions and sometimes one goes in,” Günter said of his goal. Vincenzo Grifo, Eggestein and Ritsu Doan had the next big chances, with SC now clearly the better team. The attacks came constantly from the left and right of the Oberachern goal. The fifth-division side had begun to tire after their efforts in the first half.

SC exploited this space and doubled their lead in the 77th minute. After Höfler’s delicate ball into the middle, Sallai was completely free and finished calmly into the corner. It all went perfectly SC from that point. Defensively, Ginter and Co. didn’t have to extend themselves much more, while offensively it stayed at two goals. “The second half was substantially better. After our substitutions we had a different structure,” explained Streich, whose side visit TSG Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga next Saturday.

Photo: Achim Keller