The two goalkeepers who were the stars of the show in a hard-fought encounter. Both Union’s Frederik Rønnow and SC’s Noah Atubolu made a number of saves to keep the match level over the 93 minutes. “If you don’t score a goal, it’s important that you at least don’t concede any. Atu helped us achieve that. All in all, it’s great that we managed to hold firm today against a strong Union side,” said Julian Schuster after the game.
The Freiburg head coach named the same starting eleven from the goalless draw in Mainz last time out. The hosts meanwhile made just one alteration, as Yorbe Vertessen came in for Jordan Siebatcheu.
Julian Schuster had made clear before the game how much he was looking forward to the away match in the capital. It was the only game of the evening, under the floodlights, with a sold-out away end, held at the hosts’ famous old stadium with its many standing areas.
SC’s past record at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei did not make for good reading. Freiburg’s only away win against Union to date came 20 years ago in the DFB-Pokal. On Friday evening against a high-pressing home side, SCF initially struggled to assert themselves – a rare occurrence this season.
Rønnow denies Grifo from the spot
Although the Berlin-based club piled on the pressure in the early stages, no real chances came from it, and the visitors managed to get a foothold in the game after around the ten-minute mark. Christian Günter played a nice one-two with Vincenzo Grifo before firing powerfully into the side netting from a tight angle.
Less than ten minutes later, the officials had their first decision to make. After Rani Khedira appeared to drag down Eren Dinkci when the latter was through on goal, the referee initially gave only a free kick and a yellow card (19’). After consulting VAR however, Tobias Reichel awarded a penalty, though Khedira escaped with a caution. Grifo stepped up to take it, but Rønnow guessed right to keep out the spot kick. Günter pounced on the follow-up, which went agonisingly wide of the far post.
Although the two teams seemed evenly-matched in the first half, it was SC who had more of the chances. The away end were prepared to erupt in celebration on numerous occasions, including when Junior Adamu hit the side netting after Patrick Osterhage’s superb solo run and cross into the box (35’).
Chances galore in the second period
It therefore remained goalless at the break. Both teams were unchanged for the second half, which began in breathless fashion. After just five minutes, Christopher Trimmel forced Noah Atubolu into an excellent save with a strike from distance (50’). At the other end, an Union defender just managed to prevent Patrick Osterhage from nodding home (52’). Eren Dinkci’s effort from around 18 yards was just wide (57’), before Atubolu was once again called into action to tip over Vertessen’s close-range strike (58’).
Though both sides seemed to be inching closer to that elusive opener, the score remained 0-0 with 15 minutes to go. Late on, substitute Lucas Höler had a chance to put his team ahead. Fellow sub Max Rosenfelder broke through on the right before finding Dinkci in the middle, and the latter flicked into the path of Höler. The forward was however denied by Rønnow. As the two goalkeepers continued to outdo each other, Atubolu made another stop to turn over Jannik Haberer’s powerful shot (90+2’).
The whistle went soon after with neither side able to find the breakthrough. “I don’t know where to start with praising the team. They managed to counter the opponent’s pressing. It’s a shame that we didn’t get the goal our performance deserved. That’s the only criticism we can have,” said Schuster after the match. SCF go into another international break on 17 points, and will next be in Bundesliga action away at Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, 23rd November (15:30 CET).
Photo: Ottmar Winter