The young Frenchman seemed overcome with emotion to score. After a difficult season so far for him personally, Sildillia didn’t just set his team on the road to their first away victory since early October, but also netted his first ever goal in the division. At the end of the game, he stood on the pitch and showed his delight with some heartwarming words in an interview with Sky.

SC head coach Julian Schuster was also happy that his team came out with the three points after a hard-fought 94 minutes. “It was the game we expected, and the battle we expected. We were prepared for these many midfield duels. I have to compliment the team today, because they were really up for it and got their reward,” said Schuster.

Four changes for both sides

New signing Niklas Beste wasn’t yet in the squad, but U23 player Yann Sturm was named on the bench. The Freiburg coaching staff made four changes to the starting eleven that gave a good account of themselves against record champions FC Bayern. Sildillia came in for the suspended Lukas Kübler, while Matthias Ginter replaced the injured Max Rosenfelder. Christian Günter and Vincenzo Grifo were also named in the side in place of Jordy Makengo and Ritsu Doan.

Dieter Hecking also made four changes to the Bundesliga’s bottom side after the disappointing 3-0 defeat in Mönchengladbach last time out. Ivan Ordets, Matus Bero, Gerrit Holtmann and Moritz Broschinski came in for Jakov Medic, Anthony Losilla, Felix Passlack and Myron Boadu.

SCF went into the match with plenty of motivation, while they were also wary of the hosts’ strong home record. Freiburg were additionally coming off the back of three successive heavy away defeats during a tough recent run. The visitors, who were wearing white, had most of the ball in the opening minutes and looked to make quick runs in behind down the wing.

Bochum hit the bar but Sildillia off the mark

However, the first goalkeeper to be tested wasn’t VfL’s Patrick Drewes, but instead his opposite number Noah Atubolu. In the eighth minute, the Freiburg ‘keeper had to stick out a foot to save from his own man. Nicolas Höfler had inadvertently touched a Bochum free kick towards his own goal.

Soon after, Vincenzo Grifo had the first chance for SC with a free kick from around 20 yards out, but it was still Bochum who had the better of the opportunities in the opening stages. Freiburg needed a bit of luck when Gerrit Holtmann’s powerful strike from the edge of the box rattled the crossbar (22’). The winger had another shot a few minutes later, but this time it flew over (30’).

VfL settled into the game more and more as time went on, and by the halfway point of the first half, SCF were struggling to cope with the opponent’s aggressive and compact style of play. Ten minutes before half time though, a Günter free kick unlocked the Bochum defence, and sparked wild celebrations in the away end. The SC captain delivered a corner perfectly onto the head of Sildillia, who got the better of his marker to nod Freiburg in front (35’). This was the Frenchman’s first Bundesliga goal, and the tenth by an SCF defender so far this season.

If Matthias Ginter, meanwhile, hadn’t narrowly turned a Grifo corner wide, the travelling SC supporters would have been able to enjoy yet another goal from a member of the backline before the break.

A nerve-shredding second half

Freiburg sat a little bit deeper after half time and had clearly come up with a plan to combat VfL’s tough tackling while also breaking forward themselves. Merlin Röhl had a good chance to make it 2-0 when he had a shot from the right of the penalty area, but the young midfielder’s effort went just over (47’). Eren Dinkci was also denied after a great solo run, as Drewes saved from him in a one-on-one (58’).

In an already hard-fought encounter amid a lively atmosphere at the Ruhrstadion, referee Tobias Welz had difficult decisions to make about challenges almost every minute. The game had to be stopped again and again, and the match rarely got into any kind of flow.

20 minutes from the end, Atubolu was called into action again, just like he was at the start of the game, and made an excellent save from a Hofmann header. This was the start of a phase of pressure from the home side, who increasingly put SC under the cosh. The visitors didn’t have another chance until the 86th minute, when Lucas Höler hit the bar with a powerful shot. Höler was also denied by the feet of Drewes from around six yards out shortly afterwards (90’).

It was a nervy final few minutes. A succession of crosses were delivered into the Freiburg box, only to be cleared away and then immediately sent back in the direction of Atubolu’s goal. The final whistle blew after four minutes of injury time. This came as a relief to everyone of an SCF persuasion.

Or, as the goalscorer put it: “Everything was amazing today! A goal, three points, a clean sheet. I think it was a great day for all of us.”

David Hildebrandt

Photo: deFodi Images