After the game, both head coaches agreed that it had been an intense match. “It was a hard-fought game. Overall, I’m happy with how we played. However, we misplaced a lot of our passes in attack and lacked precision,“ said SC head coach Christian Streich. “It was a tough match on both a physical and mental level. We had to do a lot of work in defence, including facing 11 corners. We showed a good reaction, and I’m happy with the point,” said Fürth head coach Stefan Leitl.

Streich made two changes to the line up following last weekend’s 3-2 victory against VfL Wolfsburg. Roland Sallai and Maxi Eggestein replaced Keven Schlotterbeck and Nicolas Höfler (Covid-19) in the XI. Fürth reacted to last weekend’s 6-1 thrashing at the hands of RB Leipzig by bringing Simon Asta, Timothy Tillman, Tobias Raschl and Sebastian Griesbeck into the starting line-up.

Evenly-matched first half

Despite a rain shower that drenched the pitch at the Sportpark Ronhof just two hours before kick-off, by the time the match got underway the sun had started to poke out from behind the clouds. The temperature had dropped by then, as SC began by dominating possession against a Fürth side eager to build out from the back.

The best and only chance in the opening 15 minutes belonged to the visitors, as Sallai attempted a shot from 20 metres out. The ball took a deflection on its way towards the goal, with goalkeeper Andreas Linde having to redirect it onto the post (13’).

Streich had said previously that he was expecting it to be an evenly-matched game – an observation that was confirmed as time ticked on. After 20 minutes, Timothy Tillmann came close for Fürth as he just missed getting on the end of a cross to the far post. Just minutes later, Mark Flekken had to come out to deny Tillmann on the breakaway (28’).

Although the majority of play in the first half was concentrated in midfield, Freiburg were still able to create chances for themselves. Sallai found Vincenzo Grifo, but his volley from inside the area was parried by Linde (36’). Ten minutes later, the sides headed into the dressing rooms still deadlocked but with Freiburg leading the corner count (6-1).

Haberer hits the bar

Neither side made any changes at the break, while the play on the field failed to live up to what we had seen during the first half.

SC had to wait until the 66th minute to finally record another chance on goal, as Sallai beat his man down the wing and crossed the ball to Janik Haberer. His one-time shot from 10 metres out crashed against the bar. Substitute Nils Petersen (67’) and Sallai again (70’) both came close in the minutes that followed.

With 20 minutes left to play, Freiburg were firmly in control of the game, but weren’t able to create much in front of goal. Sallai would go on to record the final chance of the match as he got in the way of an attempted clearance by Linde, but wasn’t able to redirect it towards goal (81’).

Freiburg now have 45 points to their name, and sit in fourth place. In two weeks’ time, SCF will be back in action on Saturday, 2nd April (15:30 CEST) as they host FC Bayern München at the Europa-Park Stadion.

Photo: Thomas Langer