SC Freiburg after a late double strike in Sandhausen in the quarterfinals

With a win at SV Sandhausen, SC Freiburg has again made it into the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup. However, a lot was in demand at the Bundesliga club.

Philipp Lienhart (87th) and Nils Petersen (90th + 5) shot SC Freiburg to a 2-0 victory in the cup duel at SV Sandhausen. This puts the Breisgau team in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup. Against whom the team of coach Christian Streich on 4./5. March has to compete, will be drawn on February 19th.

Freiburg started with a lot of pressure and had the first chance right away: When Vincenzo Grifo crossed in, the Sandhäuser central defense had apparently completely forgotten about Michael Gregoritsch. However, SVS goalkeeper Patrick Drewes was careful and defused Gregoritsch’s header (5th).

Freiburg superior, but harmless

After that, the game flattened out because Sandhausen managed to largely take Freiburg’s drivers Vincenzo Grifo and Christian Günter out of the game. The seven-man defense that Sandhausen deployed in his own penalty area did the rest. Coach Alois Schwartz’s team tried to counterattack again and again, but could hardly create a goal threat. “We defended well and occasionally had a few good moments going forward,” said SVS captain Erik Zenga in an interview with SWR Sport.

Goal danger almost only by standards

Freiburg only became dangerous again shortly before the break. Grifo flanked a free kick from the half-field into the Sandhäuser penalty area. Right-back Lukas Kübler, who had moved up, had escaped the defense but headed the ball just wide of the goal (41′). It stayed 0-0 at the break.

The game was tough in the second half. It only became dangerous by standards. But neither Sandhausen’s Hamadi Al Ghaddioui (54′) nor Freiburg’s Matthias Ginter (55′) took advantage of their header chances. Gregoritsch also headed wide of the goal after a cross from Roland Sallai – this time from open play (62′).

Lienhart and Petersen with the late decision

Appropriate to the course of the game, the decision was also made after a standard situation: Grifo with a corner and central defender Philipp Lienhart headed SC Freiburg towards the quarter-finals. Al Ghaddioui’s arm deflected the ball decisively into the goal at the end. For SVS captain Zenga it was a “very unfortunate goal”. After an equally unfortunate tee shot, Nils Petersen made it 2-0 with a fine lob from about 18 meters in added time. “Sensational,” said Grifo. “I only saw the trajectory and thought, that can’t be true: it’s going exactly into the corner.”

A bitter defeat for SV Sandhausen, who bravely held out for 87 minutes. Due to the higher proportion of the game, however, it was a deserved victory for the Breisgauer. SC Freiburg have to play VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga next Saturday (February 11, 3:30 p.m.). One day later (February 12, 1:30 p.m.) SV Sandhausen will face Fortuna Düsseldorf away in the 2nd Bundesliga.