Robin Quaison scored the winning goal in the 84th minute for the home side. SC were somewhat unlucky going forwards, with Roland Sallai hitting both the post (40’) and the bar (59’). Freiburg remain in eighth with 34 points after today’s loss.

"It was a good performance for around an hour, but before that it wasn’t good enough,” said SC head coach Christian Streich. “We weren’t clinical enough in one or two situations and didn’t do what we had set out to. We ended up losing the game because Mainz got the goal.”

Three changes

A week after the 3-0 loss against second-placed RB Leipzig, Freiburg reverted to a three/five-man defence, making three changes to the starting XI. Philipp Lienhart and Dominique Heintz were partnered by Keven Schlotterbeck at centre-back. Wooyeong Jeong and Roland Sallai got the nod up front, while Lukas Kübler, Baptiste Santamaria and Ermedin Demirovic were named on the bench.

The first half saw few chances for either side in the opening stages. Vincenzo Grifo had the first for Freiburg, shooting well over the bar from distance (14’).

Woodwork hit twice but no goals

Philipp Mwene (19’) and Adam Szalai (20’) created two chances for the home side in quick succession, however Freiburg’s defence held firm. Shortly afterwards, SC rode their luck as Danny da Costa's long-range strike slammed against the crossbar (23’).

As the clock ticked closer to the interval, Freiburg captain Christian Günter squandered an opportunity from close range (38’) before teammate Roland Sallai missed a chance to open the scoring as he struck far post five minutes before the break. With both teams missing chances to break the deadlock, the two teams went into half time with the score goalless at the OPEL ARENA.

SC hit the post again

In the early stages of the second half, most of the play took place in the centre of the park with few dangerous chances for either side. In the 59th minute, Freiburg won a free kick just outside the box which Roland Sallai stepped up to take. The Hungary international struck his effort well but saw it cannon off the woodwork again.

As a result, both teams were hunting for the lead. Günter (78') and substitute Demirovic (80') were denied by Mainz keeper Robin Zentner, before the ball was in the back of the net at the other end of the pitch. SC goalkeeper Müller showed good reflexes de save a header from Jean-Paul Boetius but was unable to stop Robin Quaison's rebound (84'), which proved to be the only goal of the game and Freiburg had to travel home with no goals and no points.

Schmid now with the most Bundesliga appearances for a French player

For Jonathan Schmid, the away trip Mainz was a memorable one despite the narrow defeat. The 30-year-old made his 274th Bundesliga appearance, overtaking former Bayern player Franck Ribéry to become the French player with the most Bundesliga appearances. Next weekend, Sport-Club will welcome FC Augsburg to the Schwarzwald-Stadion on Sunday at 18:00 CET.

Photo: Achim Keller