Matchday 20 in the Bundesliga featured the slogan ‘Nie Wieder’ (never again). SC Freiburg also took part in German football’s day of remembrance, 77 years after the concentration camp Auschwitz was shut down. This year’s theme was JEDER MENSCH ZÄHLT – EGAL AUF WELCHEM PLATZ (every person counts, in every ground), which focuses on remembering the people with disabilities that were exploited and murdered by the Nazis.

To show the club’s support for this campaign, captain Christian Günter led the team onto the pitch in white ‘Nie Wieder’ t-shirts. All income from tickets from the VfB game will go to projects that support the integration of handicapped people.

SC, unchanged from last week, were put under pressure in the first few minutes, although the guests couldn’t threaten the Freiburg goal. The first chance belonged to SC – Maximilian Eggestein headed over the bar. Both teams were cautious early on and looked to patiently find gaps in the opposition defence. Both back-lines remained compact, meaning Stuttgart only had two shots go well over the bar in the first 15 minutes, and SC only had the aforementioned header to speak of.

Chances for SC

It was a game with little action in the penalty areas for the first half an hour or so. After that, the home side then had three good chances inside a few minutes. Firstly, the ball got away from Vincenzo Grifo (29'), then Nicolas Höfler drove it over the bar (30') and Eggestein’s curler just went wide (32').

There was then a worrying moment for Freiburg at the other end. Referee Tobias Stieler pointed to the spot after a VfB player fell to ground in the box. VAR in Cologne advised Stieler to watch the incident back again and once doing so, he took back the penalty decision. SC reacted fantastically, taking the lead soon after. Lucas Höler set up Höfler, and his deflected shot from outside the box ended up in the back of the net (37'). These were two of these “moments that went our way” that Streich mentioned after the Pokal game in midweek. “These two incidents – the penalty that got taken back and our goal straight afterwards – were the key moments today,” said Streich after the match. “Before this, we didn’t have the kind of control we wanted.”

On top in the second half

Referee Stieler couldn’t carry on in the second half due to injury, so Christian Dingert took over from him. The run of play continued in the same fashion though. SC continued to control the match, with Grifo having the first shot of the second period blocked. Kevin Schade then had an effort saved by the fingertips of VfB goalkeeper Florian Müller (50'). At times, Stuttgart were penned back into their own box, although they were able to escape at times. One of those occasions saw Sasa Kalajdzic’s header from a free-kick tipped over the bar by Mark Flekken (57').

SC continued to enjoy the better chances, the next one saw Müller only parry a Lukas Kübler strike (63’), before Grifo’s shot from the edge of the box was blocked. Kevin Schade took the next opportunity to make it 2-0 to the hosts (71’). Ermedin Demirovic played him in behind and Schade hit it low past Müller. Following that, Streich brought on Wooyeong Jeong and Roland Sallai. The two quickly got into the game, Jeong heading wide from a Sallai cross (75’). This was the last moment of note in the game, as both teams defended resolutely throughout. Streich summed up the 90 minutes: “We put so much work into today’s game, especially up front. We got on top in the second half and were able to carve out some good opportunities, whilst we managed to keep them away from our goal for most of the game.”

Photo: Achim Keller