There were three changes to the Freiburg team from last weekend’s 2-1 victory at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Matthias Ginter returned from suspension to make the starting XI, while Jordy Makengo was selected at left-back. Johan Manzambi, who got the winning goal at the death last time out, was handed his first start in the Bundesliga. Christian Günter and Max Rosenfelder both dropped to the bench, Junior Adamu missed out due to a yellow-card suspension. Merlin Röhl was in the squad for the first time since the goalless draw at FC Augsburg at the start of March after recovering from a heel injury and illness.

In comparison to the Gladbach game, the lone striker Lucas Höler played a bit further forward with Manzambi just behind him. TSG legend Andrej Kramaric took on a similar role to the Swiss youngster, testing out Florian Müller in the fourth minute with a curling effort. Four minutes later, Haris Tabakovic stole the ball from Lukas Kübler in the Freiburg half, gave it to Kramaric and he shot from the edge, just missing the target with a rushed finish.

Manzambi hits the post

The entertaining start to the game continued in the 14th minute when Anton Stach slipped over 20 metres from his goal. Patrick Osterhage took the ball from him and played it to Manzambi, who then saw his shot blocked by defender Kevin Akpoguma. Five minutes later, Manzambi was in focus again, hitting the post from close range after being fed by Höler.

The matchday 30 clash was Oliver Baumann’s 400th competitive appearance for Hoffenheim, while centre-back Akpoguma was celebrating his 30th birthday – their teammates were more involved in the game in the coming minutes, however. Stach’s strike from distance was directed towards goal by Kramaric, forcing Florian Müller into a good save (24’).

The first goal of the afternoon came at the other end. Ritsu Doan beat several TSG players down the right, picked out Manzambi and then he flicked the ball on for Höler. The 30-year-old left Arthur Chaves for dead and then beat Baumann from around 12 yards out to give SC the lead (28’).

Doan adds a second, Bülter gets one back

Heading into the match, Hoffenheim had delivered the most crosses from open play of any team in the division this season, at an average of nearly 13 per match. Head coach Christian Ilzer’s side weren’t able to show off this strength during the opening 30 minutes, finding themselves trailing after 28 minutes. SC, meanwhile, continued to play aggressively and sought to make the most of their chances. Grifo laid the ball off for Doan just outside the box, as the attacker slotted home to put Freiburg 2-0 up in the 36th minute.

“The first half was pretty even. We scored two great goals and yet somehow still found ourselves heading into the half-time break level at 2-2,” Julian Schuster said after the game. The final minutes of the first half saw Baumann first parry an attempt from Kübler (45’+1), before the visitors managed to find the back of the net twice. Both resulted from free kicks near the half-way line, with Marius Bülter netting on the rebound first (45’+2) and Kramaric then finishing off an assist from Bülter to bring TSG level just minutes later (45’+5).

“I have to compliment the team for remaining disciplined and for scoring a third goal to give us the win,” Schuster said during the post-match press conference. Doan was involved once again, controlling a long ball from Lienhart with a delicate touch before laying it off for Grifo. The midfielder then cut it across for Höler, who only had to tap in to net his second goal of the afternoon (57’).

SC hold on to earn all three points

The following minutes saw Osterhage, Doan, Höler and TSG’S Tom Bischof all pick up bookings. While SC sought to seek out opportunities to catch their opponents on the break, TSG were relatively harmless in this period of the game. Even through the four minutes of added time, SC’s backline remained strong on their way to defending their lead.

The sound of the final whistle set off wild celebrations amongst the home fans. With the win, SC have now picked up 48 points this season and sit in fifth place ahead of next weekend’s trip to VfL Wolfsburg.

Photo: Achim Keller