Bundesliga surprise team SC Freiburg has lost ground in the hunt for leaders FC Bayern Munich.
In the repeat of the DFB Cup final, coach Christian Streich’s team lost 3-1 (0-0) to in-form cup champion RB Leipzig on Wednesday evening. As a result, the Breisgauer, who had recently won three times in a row, are four points behind the record champions.
RB defender Mohamed Simakan (54th), star striker Christopher Nkunku (56th) with his twelfth goal of the season and Emil Forsberg with a penalty kick (78th) brought the Freiburg team their third defeat of the season, Lukas Kübler (66th) scored for the guests .
Previously, the string team had only lost to Bayern (0:5) and Borussia Dortmund (1:3).
Leipzig overtakes BVB
The Leipzig team, who started so weakly and have not been defeated for twelve competitive games, are now very close to the Champions League ranks. Coach Marco Rose’s team even overtook BVB with 25 points and is now within striking distance of SC (27).
“It’s a big task ahead of us. We need a great day and maybe a bit of luck,” Streich warned before the game. And the people of Freiburg took advantage of that early on. If the Leipzig team had lost their teeth despite their superiority in ball possession on the five-man chain, the SC had the second-best defense in the league to date, things suddenly happened very quickly.
After a quick free kick by Dominik Szoboszlai, Christopher Nkunku (16′) was free and lobbed the ball against the outside of the post. Bitter for RB: Shortly thereafter, defender Josko Gvardiol (23rd) had to go out with a nosebleed after colliding with captain Willi Orban. The Croatian, who was taken to hospital, was only in the starting XI shortly before kick-off because Abdou Diallo had complained of knee pain during the warm-up.
Leipzig unleashed after the break
The hosts hardly seemed shocked. RB occupied the SC, who rarely ventured forward, and started creating chances. Both André Silva (24th) and Benjamin Henrichs (28th), who came on for Gvardiol, were sent down brilliantly, but both aimed wide of the goal from the inside right.
SC goalkeeper Mark Flekken (38th) was just able to scrape an Orban header deflected off the line by Freiburg’s Philipp Lienhart.
After the break, RB ran like unleashed. Flekken initially saved in dire need against Nkunku (52′) and Szoboszlai (54′), but then the Leipzig double strike followed.
Simakan smashed a crossbar rebound after another Nkunku attempt over the line, before Nkunku was sent steeply and Flekken didn’t stand a chance in a one-on-one. Just two minutes later, the Dutch keeper made another save against Silva.
But Kübler brought Freiburg back into play with a great shot from the edge of the penalty area. Forsberg made it clear after a foul on Nkunku from the penalty spot.