Freiburg (AP) – Nico Schlotterbeck confidently showed his upper arm muscles and slipped to his knees. With the late goal to make SC Freiburg 3-2 (2-0) against VfL Wolfsburg as a quick response (87th minute) to the Lower Saxony equalizer that had just been achieved, Schlotterbeck became the match winner in the end. The defender refined a strong performance by Vincenzo Grifo on Saturday, who put Freiburg in the lead with his first brace in the Bundesliga. With the success, the sports club confirmed its European Cup ambitions and can increasingly dream of qualifying for the Champions League.
“I’m really pleased with how the boys performed,” summarized Freiburg coach Christian Streich. After Max Kruse shortened the goal for Wolfsburg, who had been disappointing in the first half, against his former club (52nd) and Maximilian Arnold scored to make it 2-2 (84th), Freiburg came back in front of 25,000 spectators. Substitute Nils Petersen let the ball drip off his chest – and Schlotterbeck hammered the ball into the goal with his left foot from around 18 meters. “But you can expect that from his quality,” said Streich in a good mood with a smile and a wink.
The coach had also seen good goals from Grifo: with a directly converted free kick, the offensive player overcame Wolfsburg’s substitute goalkeeper Pavao Pervan, who had stepped in for Koen Casteels, who was suffering from hip problems, in the 7th minute. Grifo thus also underpinned Freiburg’s standard strength. Then the midfielder volleyed (44′). “Nico saved us again. It was a very important victory,” said Grifo on pay TV channel Sky. At least temporarily, SC Freiburg moved up to fourth place with 44 points. Wolfsburg, in 12th place, failed to distance themselves further from the relegation zone.
For Streich it was the first game after his renewed contract extension. He celebrated his 104th Bundesliga win with the Sport-Club, drawing level with former Freiburg coach Volker Finke. “A difficult game,” said Streich: “I’m really, really happy that we were able to win it because we had quite a bit of trouble with Corona this week. It’s great that the team managed a game like that.” The Baden team announced four positive test results before kick-off – with the regulars Philipp Lienhart and Maximilian Eggestein as well as Woo-yeong Jeong and Hugo Siquet.
The hosts played energetically from the start and, unlike Lower Saxony, had chances. The defeated guests remained without a shot on goal in the first half and only increased after the break. His team “said in good German, shit defended,” scolded Kruse about the first half. Kohfeldt also criticized: “I was very, very angry. We weren’t ready for this game today in terms of physicality, freshness,” criticized the coach and sees a risk of relegation that has not yet been banned: “Nothing’s over for me. We urgently need to still earn points to stay in the league.”
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220312-99-492227/5
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