“After the loss against St. Pauli, the team looked really focused and were very critical of themselves,” explained Julian Schuster after the hard-fought win. “That was the basis for our performance today. We were very alert defensively. We won a lot of challenges and second balls. We’re over the moon with how the team and the players performed today.”

Many of the hosts’ players declared themselves unfit to play against SCF after their thrilling 4-3 win in Hoffenheim last weekend. Skelly Alvero and captain Marco Friedl, who was back in the frame after serving a suspension, replaced Senne Lynen and Niklas Stark in the side. Freiburg lined up with an unchanged starting XI – the only changes were fully-fit Max Rosenfelder and Kiliann Sildillia returning to the squad in place of Bruno Ogbus and Johan Manzambi.

A promising start

In the beautiful Bremen sunshine, the away side shot out of the blocks and put their opponents under the cosh from the outset. SC were playing with a purpose, constantly looking for space in behind SVW’s backline, and they almost got their reward in the second minute of the match. After a dazzling solo run, Ritsu Doan let fly inside the box, but his shot took a deflection of a Werder defender and trickled harmlessly out for a corner. 

The Green-Whites appeared to be the more timid side initially, though they would end up having the best chance of the opening stages. Marvin Ducksch’s cushioned header landed at Felix Agu’s feet, but the full-back’s close-range effort was saved by Noah Atubolu (17’).

Freiburg continued to pile the pressure on their opponents up until the midpoint of the first half, but Junior Adamu (27’), Maximilian Eggestein (29’) and Ritsu Doan (32’) all failed to hit the back of the net with their efforts. SCF looked considerably closer to talking the lead than the hosts when the referee blew his whistle after three quarters of an hour. The final chance of the first half fell to Vincenzo Grifo, whose curled effort kissed the post after some nice build-up play (45’).

Doan with the winner

Freiburg continued to set the tone after the restart, with clever positional play and fierce tackling allowing them to win the ball back in the middle of the park and even in the opposition half. Werder seemed happy to let SCF have time on the ball and instead looked to strike on the counter.

Ole Werner’s side finally kicked into gear with half-an-hour left on the clock. Both sides now looked evenly matched but struggled to test the opponent’s defence and create opportunities. On the whole, the sold-out crowd at the Weserstadion witnessed a game of few chances. Just when the match seemed to be heading for a goalless draw, however, Freiburg took the lead. Grifo played a pass through to Doan down the right-hand side, and the winger cut inside and lined up a shot. His effort took a deflection and hit the back of the net, sending the 2,300 travelling fans wild (75’).

Spurred on by going behind, Werder put their foot on the gas in search of an equaliser in the closing stages, but this opened up space in behind their defensive line. Lucas Höler latched onto Florent Musilija’s ball forward and had the chance to seal the deal for the visitors, but his shot whistled just over the bar (89’). The five minutes of added time were nervy for Freiburg, as they tried to hang onto their narrow lead. Julian Schuster’s side were able to emerge unscathed after five dangerous corners, and the final whistle blew shortly afterwards to mark SC’s fourth win in seven games this season.

After the second international break of the season, Freiburg will be back at home to take on FC Augsburg (19th October, 15:30 CEST)