Florian Müller prevented Leverkusen from taking the lead with several strong saves in the first half, before Sport-Club raced into a 2-0 lead after the break with goals from Ermedin Demirovic (50’) and Lucas Höler (61’). Leon Bailey cut the deficit (70’) but the Breisgauer managed to see the game out.

"We did well defensively but we weren’t good enough going forward in the first half. I wasn’t satisfied with that,” said Christian Streich at full-time. “We discussed that at half-time.”

Three fresh faces in the starting XI

Eight days after the 1-0 loss to Union, Streich made three changes to his line-up to take on Leverkusen. Lukas Kübler (right-back) and Dominique Heintz (centre-back) came into the back four, with Jonathan Schmid moving to right-wing to make space. Ermedin Demirovic was preferred to Nils Petersen in attack. Petersen took his place on the bench alongside Manuel Gulde and Janik Haberer.

An even start before Müller keeps things locked down

The away side started the game with play as bright as the yellow and red kits worn by the players. The defensive performance against a top side was particularly notable. The best chances of the half fell to Leverkusen, who were thwarted four times by an inspired Florian Müller. Leon Bailey’s effort was tipped over the bar (10’), as was Lucas Alario’s header from the resulting corner (11’).

No first-half goals

The 23-year-old shot-stopper was back in action soon after to keep out attempts from Demarai Gray (22’) and Bailey (33’). The ‘keeper was the main reason for the game being goalless after half an hour. Müller’s defensive line, featuring captain and birthday boy Christian Günter, were also on form this evening. They kept Freiburg’s build-up play ticking, although a Leverkusen player was often the first to the ball in the danger zone. The best Freiburg chance of the half fell to Demirovic just before the break, but his header was too close to Bayer ‘keeper Lennart Grill after a Vincenzo Grifo corner (44’).

SCF take the lead

The second half began with Christian Streich bringing on Manuel Gulde for Philipp Lienhart, who was still experiencing dizziness after contesting an aerial duel (46'). It didn’t take long for Freiburg to go on the attack after winning the ball in midfield and countering quickly. Lucas Höler dribbled down the right wing before cutting the ball back and finding Demirovic in the box. Demirovic cooly struck home a low shot to open the scoring for SCF (50').

Extending the lead - Leverkusen get one back

Leverkusen nearly netted the equaliser just minutes later, but Kübler was able to poke the ball away from Alario before he was able to get a shot off (54'). Instead, it would be Freiburg who would have cause to celebrate once more.Demirovic played through to Vincenzo Grifo, who laid it off to a wide open Höler. The attacker easily tapped it into the empty net to extend Freiburg’s lead (61').Taking three points back home Leon Bailey was able to profit from a miscommunication at the back, deking out Kübler and firing it past Müller to cut the deficit (70'). Fortunately for SCF, it would prove to be Leverkusen’s only goal of the game. “We were efficient and also had a bit of luck. That’s what Bayer are lacking at the moment, which played out well for us. We didn’t really have many shots on goal, to be honest,” said Christian Streich.

Freiburg now have 34 points on the board and sit in eighth place. Next up, SCF will face RB Leipzig at home at the Schwarzwald-Stadion on Saturday (15:30 CET).

Photos: Bernd Thissen