“I’m generally happy with the performance. Our positional play in the first half was good and we were able to break through them a few times. We were a little hectic in the second half, whereas Würzburg got into in the game more and were more aggressive,” assessed head coach Christian Streich. His opposite number Tosten Ziegner said: We knew that we would have to be at our absolute best defensively and I think we were very good. We should have done better with our counterattacking opportunities though.”

SCF look for gaps, Würzburg sit deep

The hosts had to deal with a setback early in the game as their summer signing from Karlsruher SC, Marvin Pourié, had to come off injured after only ten minutes. Little had happened up until that point, with Freiburg producing the odd foray forward, albeit without them carrying much of a threat. Würzburg were focusing on remaining compact at the back and trying to cause problems on the counter. SCF meanwhile were patiently playing the ball around, waiting for a gap to appear in the home side’s defence.

The Freiburg 3-4-3 setup wasn’t producing the necessary tempo in their build-up play and it wasn’t until the 24th minute that the visitors created their first opportunity. Yannik Keitel was spotted in the penalty area by Nico Schlotterbeck, but his effort just slipped the wrong side of the near post.

Wooyeong Jeong came even closer as he looked to curl the ball home with a first-time shot, and he wasn’t far away too as the ball bounced back off the post (28’). SCF were looking more dangerous on the ball now, with quick switches of play opening up the route to the Würzburg goal.

Freiburg continued to have more of the ball and that momentum ultimately led to them grabbing the opening goal just before half time. Lucas Höler controlled Christian Günter’s cross before sending the ball square to the well-placed Jonathan Schmid, who was able to apply a finish from inside ten yards (45’). “Berlin, Berlin, we’re going to Berlin,” was the chant from the 500 strong away section at the FLYERALARM Arena in Würzburg and Freiburg took a 1-0 lead.

The lead could have been cancelled out before the half-time whistle, but Mark Flekken’s first action of the game saw him made a smart save down low from a dangerous Kickers free-kick on the edge of the box (45’).

Chaotic second half

The change of ends changed the flow of the match as well. Torsten Ziegner’s side had to respond and started to play more courageous football, putting SCF under pressure. It was still Freiburg who had the better chances, however. Lucas Höler had two golden chances in the space of a minute, first seeing his shot tipped behind, and then only just failing to get on the end of a flicked-on corner-kick at the back post (54’). Würzburg soon began producing dangerous moments at the other end though and Saliou Sané should have done better with a free header in the 57th minute.

With just the one goal in it, it was a nervy ending for SCF as Kickers looked to capitalise on a lack of organisation in Christian Streich’s ranks. The hosts weren’t able to keep their head when it mattered though, with Saliou Sané again the one with the opportunity to equalise in the third minute of stoppage time, only this time to fire over from a tight angle with only Flekken to beat.

SCF are safely through to the next round in the end, and can now focus on next Saturday’s Bundesliga opener away at Arminia Bielefeld (15:30 CEST).

Foto: Achim Keller