On matchday 22 in the Bundesliga, Christian Streicht's men suffered a 1-0 loss to Union Berlin. Grischa Prömel scored the lone goal of the game in the 64th minute.
"It's extremely hard to outplay Union. It was a hard-fought game, and we didn't get off to a good start. We did better during the second half and we fought hard after we conceded. Overall, it was a deserved win for Union," said SC head coach Christian Streich. "It was a very good performance from us, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to win in Freiburg. The team did a good job of implementing what we asked of them and defended well," said Union head coach Urs Fischer.
SC Freiburg lined up in a 4-4-2 for the game against their direct competitors in the table. Streich made three changes to the line-up following last weekend's 0-0 draw in Bremen, with Janik Haberer slotting in behind the lone man up front, Nils Petersen, who replaced Ermedin Demirovic. Lucas Höler replaced Wooyeong Jeong on the right flank. The switch to a back four instead of a back three also saw Dominique Heintz take his place on the bench.
Union head coach Urs Fischer - who turned 55 years old the day of the match - made four changes to his starting XI. In addition to SCF loanee Nico Schlotterbeck, Marius Bülter, Grischa Prömel and Christopher Lenz replaced Florian Hübner, Niko Gießelmann, Taiwo Awoniyi and Christian Gentner.
Brothers Nico and Keven Schlotterbeck had to wait to square off on the pitch, as Keven had only just returned from injury and began the game on the bench.
Both teams tested each other in the opening phases of the game, while Union looked the better side at the start. The first chance of the game belonged to Joel Pohjanpalo, whose acrobatic attempt from inside the box was easily scooped up by Florian Müller (16').
The game developed into a showdown between two tactically strong sides, with few chances on either side, as we headed into half-time with the score deadlocked at 0-0.
Christian Streich made one change following the break, with Dominique Heintz replacing Janik Haberer. The defender took his place at left-back, as SCF made the switch to a back three.
The change had an immediate impact on the match, as the hosts recorded several chances in the opening minutes of the second half. Lucas Höler and Nils Petersen both came close to heading Freiburg into the lead (49', 51').
Freiburg, who started winning more challenges at this point, started to have more of the ball midway through the second half. However, they soon went behind. Grischa Prömel headed home a cross at the back post to give Union the lead with their first chance of the second half (65').
SCF brought on further reinforcements in the 68th minute, with Ermedin Demirovic, Wooyeong Jeong and Roland Sallai entering the game, in addition to Keven Schlotterbeck.
Freiburg looked shaken after falling behind, but were able to regroup. The final 20 minutes of the match saw the home side push for an equaliser. Roland Sallai sent a shot wide (73'), before Jonathan Schmid's shot was blocked by an Union player (79'). Union also had a chance to extend their lead, as Musa was through on goal in the 83rd minute. Florian Müller did well to deny the striker one-on-one.
Union were fighting hard to keep their lead, which was perhaps best exemplified by a moment in the 86th minute, as Wooyeong Jeong was setting himself up to dribble down the wing before being knocked off his feet by a studs-up challenge from Niko Gießelmann. Referee Sören Storks showed Gießelmann a yellow card, before consulting VAR to review the challenge, but elected not to change his initial decision.
In a hectic ending to the game, SC couldn't force an equaliser. As a result, Union have climbed above Freiburg in the table. Christian Streich's side's next game is away to Bayer 04 Leverkusen next Sunday (18:00 CET).

Photos: Achim Keller