SC Freiburg also won the third game in the Europa League. In front of their home crowd, the Breisgauer defeated FC Nantes.
Even without head coach Christian Streich, who tested positive for the corona virus on Wednesday morning, the Freiburg team continued their successful streak. After wins against Qarabag (2:1) and Piraeus (3:0) the Breisgauer also defeated FC Nantes. Daniel-Kofi Kyereh and Vincenzo Grifo scored in the 2-0 (0-0) in front of 33,200 spectators in the Europa-Park Stadium. The sports club has been unbeaten in nine games in all competitions.
Freiburg relies on continuity, Gregoritsch is injured
For the fifth time in a row, Freiburg relied on the same starting XI. Michael Gregoritsch stormed from the start, but had to be substituted after 20 minutes. He was injured on a cross. Nils Petersen came on for him. Lucas Höler was back in the squad after breaking his metatarsal. Head coach Streich was represented by assistant coach Patrick Baier and liaison coach Julian Schuster. During his ten-year tenure, Streich had only been on the sidelines twice. In 2018 he missed two Bundesliga games due to a herniated disc.
Hardly any dangerous actions in the first half of the game
Freiburg tried to control the game from the start. Nantes, who had beaten Piraeus and lost to Qarabag, were solid. The spectators had to wait around 23 minutes for the first chance. Freiburg defender Philipp Lienhart headed over the goal after a corner kick. Kyereh was responsible for the most dangerous scene of the first half. Alban Lafont, who was already on his way to the other corner, was able to parry a deflected shot from the Freiburg playmaker with one hand.
Kyereh puts Freiburg in the lead
In the second half, less than three minutes were played when Freiburg took the lead. Ritsu Doan served Kyereh in the penalty area, who only had to push the ball into the far corner from a short distance (48′). Previously, Pedro Chirivella had lost the ball to Doan in his own sixteen. Kyereh, who had moved from FC St. Pauli to Freiburg, celebrated his first goal on the European stage with a backflip.
Daniel-Kofi Kyereh celebrates his goal to make it 1-0. According to his own statement, he learned his acrobatic tricks in children’s gymnastics.
From then on, Freiburg pushed for the second goal. After a little over an hour, captain Christian Günter had the chance after a pass from Grifo, but Lafont parried his shot from a tight angle. During this phase, Freiburg managed to combine dangerously in front of the French goal again and again with quick switching games.
Grifo increases for the sports club
So it’s not surprising that the Sport-Club increased in the 72nd minute. With a brief deception, Grifo left his opponent standing and curled the ball into the bottom right corner. It was his second goal of the current Europa League season. Nantes managed almost nothing offensively, but then appeared twice dangerously in front of the Freiburg goal almost out of nowhere. Substitute Evann Guessand fired well over the field before Samuel Moutoussamy headed over the empty goal from a close range. Because Petersen in Freiburg also missed another chance, the score remained 2-0.
Freiburg well on the way to the round of 16
Next Thursday (October 13, 6:45 p.m.) both teams will meet again in Nantes. Then Freiburg can make the move into the second round of the Europa League perfect. The second place in the group is sufficient for this. The eight runners-up in the group will be drawn against the eight third-placed teams from the Champions League. The winners of these duels are in the round of 16. If Freiburg defend their first place in Group G, they will go straight into the round of 16.
