Baden derby: Freiburg defeats Hoffenheim when they are outnumbered

SC Freiburg won the Baden-Württemberg duel against TSG Hoffenheim. Adam Sallai scored the winning goal while outnumbered.

SC Freiburg took the lead 1-0 after 37 minutes through Lucas Höler. After the break, Vincenzo Grifo made it 2-0 (55th minute), before Wout Weghorst scored the next goal two minutes later (57th). In the 77th minute, Maximilian Beier even scored the equalizer before Adam Sallai scored the 3-2 winning goal when he was outnumbered. Manuel Gulde had recently seen the yellow-red card (82′).

The fans caused the first excitement of the game: in protest against the investment in the DFL, the supporters remained silent for twelve minutes – then the fan frustration was released, as announced, by throwing coins and camels. Not much had happened in terms of sport up to that point. Freiburg tried hard, but still lacked penetration. It was only after 21 minutes that Hoffenheim’s goalkeeper Oliver Baumann had to stretch for the first time. The ex-Freiburg player skillfully deflected a shot from Vincenzo Grifo around the post.

Baumann saves, Höler scores

As a result, SC Freiburg took more and more control of the game and should have taken the lead in the 35th minute through Maximilian Eggestein. Oliver Baumann brilliantly parried the shot from eleven meters. Just two minutes later the ball was in the Hoffenheim net. Lucas Höler used a dream cross from Vincenzo Grifo with his heel.

However, the referee team decided that the game was offside by a small margin – and after many minutes of consultation with the video assistant, they reversed this decision. Höler’s sixth goal of the season counted, Freiburg led 1-0 (37th minute). An effective goal: TSG Hoffenheim now left the field entirely to SC Freiburg, who could have increased the score to 2-0 through Höler in the 40th minute. Baumann won the one-on-one duel.

Shortly before the break, TSG Hoffenheim could have equalized. However, Matthias Ginter blocked Maximilian Beier’s shot on the line. But the goal wouldn’t have counted anyway, Beier had previously been offside. So Freiburg went into the break with a well-deserved 1-0 lead.

Freiburg comes out of the break stronger

Even after the break, Freiburg remained dominant in the game and rewarded itself for its own offensive drive after 55 minutes. Florian Grillitsch lost a duel against Freiburg’s Michael Gregoritsch in his own penalty area. The Austrian sent Grifo steeply, who took on four Hoffenheim players alone and hit the far corner.

Just a little later, however, Freiburg was caught off guard. With Hoffenheim’s first real chance to score, the Kraichgauer equalized. Beier plucked a long free kick from the sky in the penalty area and passed it to Wout Weghorst. The Dutchman hit the corner from eleven meters – only 2-1 (57th).

Hoffenheim equalizes

However, Freiburg did not allow themselves to be unsettled by the goal and continued to dominate the game. In the 64th minute, Freiburg could have restored their old lead again through Höler. But his shot went just past the far post.

But Freiburg’s superiority brought nothing. Instead, Hoffenheim scored again. Again the Breisgau central defense didn’t look good after a long free kick, Beier ran the long ball and netted it unstoppable for Atubolu. An equalizer that was not in sight (77′). “I went in briefly to change,” said the substitute Vincenzo Grifo after the game: “Then I come out and it’s 2-2. That wasn’t so nice.”

It was a phase “in which we thought ‘how is this possible?’,” Gregoritsch also summed up. “But it was a home game as we imagine it: a lot of passion, a lot of good football,” continued SC striker Michael Gregoritsch.

Exchange of blows with a happy ending for Freiburg

After the equalizer, a real exchange of blows developed. After another long ball, Manuel Gulde touched the onrushing Beier lightly on the foot in a sprint duel, throwing the Hoffenheim player out of step. Referee Sascha Stegemann decided on a foul and sent Gulde to the dressing room with a yellow-red card. However, Freiburg did not give up, but instead played for victory when they were outnumbered. A risk for which the Freiburgers were rewarded.

After a cross from Eggestein, Baumann parried Adam Sallai’s header, but the blocked ball landed right back at the feet of the Hungarian, who scored to make it 3-2. The deserved winning goal for SC Freiburg, which distances their table neighbors Hoffenheim to four points. “Three goals, a great win today,” Gregoritsch said happily after the game: “I think it was deserved.”

After the win, Freiburg are in seventh place in the table with 28 points and are therefore level on points with sixth-placed Frankfurt. Hoffenheim remains in eighth place with 24 points. The sports club will face SV Werder Bremen away next week, and TSG Hoffenheim will host 1. FC Heidenheim.