Max Rosenfelder had a huge smile on his face while he was holding the microphone. He was the matchwinner in Saturday’s narrow victory over the Wolves, scoring his first Bundesliga goal to hand SC Freiburg the victory. “I’m happy I scored my first-ever goal. Looking back at it now, it was amazing,” said a visibly happy Rosenfelder about his winner.

SCF went into the game in Wolfsburg with two changes to the lineup that emerged victorious at home against Hoffenheim. Junior Adamu returned to the side after serving a suspension, with Max Rosenfelder also being named in the XI. Freiburg set up with a three-man backline, and Jordy Makengo and Ritsu Doan would drop back off the ball to support the defence. The first few minutes were testy, with a lot of possession for the hosts but a lack of chances. SCF first threatened to take the lead in the 14th minute. Vincenzo Grifo’s cross from the right flank found Lucas Höler, whose header was not powerful enough to trouble Wolfsburg keeper Kamil Grabara. After that, VfL squandered a good opportunity, as Jonas Wind’s effort was millimetres away from putting the home side ahead (17’). The next chance fell to Adamu three minutes later. Unmarked in the box, he got a shot off that went just wide of the goal (20’).

After a fairly quiet opening period, the game started to kick into gear. It became a back-and-forth affair, though the hosts shot themselves in the foot in the 27th minute, with Maximilian Arnold being sent off. The midfielder was initially booked for his studs-up challenge on Adamu but following a consultation with the video assistant, referee Sven Jablonski upgraded his decision to a red card. It meant that SCF would have a man advantage for around an hour’s play. Wolfsburg sat back deep in their own half, though Freiburg stayed patient and eventually got their chances. In the 36th minute, Grifo tested Wolfsburg shot-stopper Grabara. Even though the effort was from only ten yards out, the Pole reacted quickly to keep his side on level terms. Three minutes before the interval, a cross from Adamy took a deflection and fell into the path of Matthias Ginter, but the defender was unable to squeeze the ball in from a few yards out.

Rosenfelder with the opener

Michael Gregoritsch replaced Adamu at the start of the second half, and it did not take long after the restart for Freiburg to go in front. The ball, somewhat fortunately, landed at Max Rosenfelder’s feet after a deflection. The centre-back who had been impressive defensively to that point took a touch, tried his luck and ended up finding the top-left corner to make it 1-0 (49’). It was his first goal in the Bundesliga, never mind his first goal of the season. After the match, Maximilian Eggestein said, “I’ll let Max celebrate in peace”. There would be time for that after the final whistle but, for the meantime, he and his teammates had to see out the remaining 40 minutes.

With a goal to the good and an extra man, it was more of the same. Freiburg plated patiently, probed for gaps in the opposition defence but rarely carved out chances to extend their lead. On the other hand. Wolfsburg no longer sat back and started to have their say in the game. SCF keeper Florian Müller wasn’t troubled too much, however. Freiburg moved the ball around their own ranks for minutes at a time, which the hosts allowed them to do up until the edge of the box, where they would win it back or SCF’s final pass wouldn’t come off. It was the desired tactic, as Jochen Saier, Freiburg’s director of sport, expressed after the match, “Our plan with an extra man was to stay calm and keep possession. We managed to do that.”

Even when VfL managed to close in on Freiburg’s goal on a couple of occasions, SC kept things tight and, when all was said and done, came away with a 1-0 win. “When you’re a man up for so long, you want to win. On the whole, we played patiently. We’re happy that we kept a clean sheet and came away with three points,” said Eggestein. In response to his side’s third victory in a row, Julian Schuster said, “I think we started the game well and had good chances before the red card. We didn’t let the opposition have many changes over the course of the match. Keeping things tight when you’ve got an extra man is not a given against a side which can counter so quickly.”

The clean sheet was the icing on the cake. The 1-0 win also marked the club’s 100th away victory in the Bundesliga. Next weekend, SCF will welcome Bayer 04 Leverkusen to the Europa-Park Stadion for their penultimate home match of the season (Sunday, 17:30 CEST).

Photo: Fabian Bimmer