SC Freiburg confidently solved the cup challenge against second division club Fortuna Düsseldorf and extended the crisis with the Rhinelanders after four defeats in a row.
The Breisgauer team, who had recently gone three times without a win away from home, won the second round game 3-1 (2-1) and, like last year, moved into the round of 16 of the competition.
Düsseldorf’s new coach Markus beginning, on the other hand, suffered a defeat in the third competitive game in a row and is under a lot of pressure in the home game against 1. FC Kaiserslautern next Sunday. The Freiburgers therefore remain in the running in the DFB Cup in addition to the Bundesliga and Europa League.
Matanovic scores after 54 seconds
In front of 36,112 spectators in the Düsseldorf Arena, Igor Matanovic (1st), Vincenzo Grifo (6th) and Derry Scherhant (90th + 3) scored the goals for the 2022 cup finalists. For Fortuna, who were eliminated in the first round last year, Anouar El Azzouzi (20th) scored in the first home cup game in six years.
Freiburg’s coach Julian Schuster ensured freshness in the team with six changes to the starting line-up. That should pay off quickly. After just 54 seconds, Matanovic, who had just joined the team, made it 1-0 after an assist from Johan Manzambi. Grifo, who was suddenly completely free and was also rotated into the starting eleven, made the lightning start perfect with a 2-0 win in the 6th minute. In both cases, Düsseldorf’s defensive line appeared helpless.
Shortly afterwards, Coach Beginn took advantage of a break and called his team together. Afterwards, the Düsseldorf team, who had two new offensive players in the starting line-up in Shinta Appelkamp and Cedric Itten, took a little courage and scored the next goal against Freiburg’s cup goalkeeper Florian Müller through El Azzouzi. However, Itten had to be substituted early with an injury. His colleague Matthias Zimmermann also had to be carried off the pitch later with a head injury.
Fortuna Düsseldorf only hits the post
The hosts found their way into the game better and had an opportunity to equalize through Tim Oberdorf, but the central defender only hit the post (54th). The guests didn’t allow much more and took advantage of a counterattack in stoppage time by Scherhant to make it 3-1.