SC Freiburg won the first of two friendlies held on Saturday. Hugo Siquet (17’), Nils Petersen (43’) and Kimberly Ezekwem (55’) were on the scoresheet as Christian Streich’s side ran out 3-0 winners.
One day after the end of the team’s training camp, SC Freiburg’s next pre-season friendly was on the agenda. In the first of two games on Saturday, Spanish top-flight side Rayo Vallecano provided the opposition.
Lively start
The visitors almost took the lead early on when Radamel Falcao latched onto a backpass and shot goalwards, but Noah Atubolu pull off a good reflex save to deny the Colombian forward. Atubolu was called into action again in the 8th and 32nd minutes to defend his clean sheet.
It didn’t take long for the game to spring into life and moments later it was the opposition goalkeeper Stole Dimitrevski who was forced into action, getting across to push Yannik Keitel's point-blank header off the line.
Freiburg had the lead just after a quarter of an hour when Roland Sallai’s cross found Hugo Siquet at the far post. The Belgian met the ball with a header and found the back of the net.
It was the scorer of the opening goal who set up the second. Kimberly Ezekwem, who had replaced the injured Lukas Kübler, crossed and Siquet won the header again, this time nodding back across the six-yard box, where Nils Petersen headed home to double the lead (43’).
The fixture was the first game of pre-season for Rayo, but it was not noticeable on the pitch. The Spanish first-division side matched Christian Streich's team and played their part in what was an even contest.
Ezekwem scores the final goal
However, it was the home side who grabbed the third and final goal. Ezekwem rounded off some good build-up play between Sallai, Ritsu Doan and Siquet, finishing the Belgian's low cross into the corner from around ten metres (55’).
While most of the Freiburg players remained out on the pitch for the full 90, Rayo head coach Andoni Iraola opted for a number of changes at the break. While the tempo of the game remained high, the number of goal-scoring chances decreased over time and Freiburg were able to see out a 3-0 victory.
SC Freiburg XI: Atubolu (45‘, Uphoff) - Kübler (26‘, Ezekwem), Gulde, Schlotterbeck, Siquet - Doan, Keitel, Wagner, Weißhaupt - Sallai, Petersen
