Freiburg’s coaching staff were forced into making their first change to their starting XI in the league this season, as Yannick Keitel came in to partner Nicolas Höfler in the heart of the midfield in place of the injured Maximilian Eggestein (fractured wrist). Apart from that, head coach Christian Streich selected the same side that had to work hard to win 1-0 against VfB Stuttgart last week, in the hope that the team’s standard of play would dramatically improve compared to the previous weekend. 

The home side found it tough in the opening few minutes against a deep-sitting Bochum side. “It was a difficult game,” commented head coach Streich after full-time. “Bochum were highly motivated to put last week’s match against Bayern behind them.” Bochum head coach Thomas Reis had made several changes to the side that were thrashed 7-0 by the German record champions – Philipp Hofmann was named on the bench as Reis opted for a more flexible and mobile attack.  

Asano gets the first real chance 

The visitors almost got themselves ahead in the 12th minute when Takuma Asano was played through by a stunning pass from Kevin Stöger and was only denied by a wonderful diving save from Flekken, who carried on his good form after a terrific performance against Stuttgart. 

Bochum certainly weren’t seven goals worse than Bayern, but they simply made too many individual errors, and this trend continued under the floodlights of the Europa-Park Stadion. In the 18th minute, Bochum’s Erhan Masovic went to head Vincenzo’s Grifo’s ball over the top back to his goalkeeper but failed to notice that Ritsu Doan was lurking behind him, who subsequently missed a good chance to punish the defender’s mistake. 

The rain continued to pour down from the Freiburg night sky as the hosts began to take control of the match. The 32,800 fans in attendance couldn’t quite believe that neither Michael Gregoritsch nor Ritsu Doan were able to beat Manuel Riemann with their chances in the 23rd minute before Nicolas Höfler missed the open net from twelve yards out. 

The downpour intensified whilst Bochum grew into the game, and the fact that the scores were level at half-time was certainly a fair reflection on the game. Roland Sallai attempted an audacious bicycle kick from 15 yards, nearly scoring spectacularly (31’). “It became difficult when the rain started to fall,” said Streich. “We played really well after the break.” 

Third time lucky for Grifo 

The same XI came out for the second half, by which point the rain had started to calm down. There was a dramatic start to this period after Manuel Riemann saw the ball slip through his fingers in an attempt to collect the high ball. Roland Sallai was quickly on the scene and the Bochum keeper grabbed his shorts to try and stop him from poking the ball into an empty net. After consulting the pitch-side monitor, referee Marco Fritz pointed to the spot for the foul on Sallai. 

Vincenzo Grifo’s eventual penalty was saved by Riemann, who also denied the winger on the rebound immediately after. Fortunately for SCF, Grifo’s third bite of the cherry saw him finally put the ball into the back of the net to give the hosts the lead (48’). Just three minutes later, he then tried his luck from a free-kick 26 yards away from goal which missed by a hair’s breadth, as did Michael Gregoritsch’s effort from close range which came about thanks to some outstanding play from Ritsu Doan (62’). 

Woodwork hit on four occasions in the closing stages 

Streich’s side were almost punished for their inability to score further goals when Gerrit Holtmann’s powerful effort struck the post (64’). Gregoritsch too found the post from five yards out at the other end of the pitch eight minutes later. 

Substitutions were made in the closing stages, including that of Nils Petersen, who almost proved his qualities off the bench once again when he brilliantly chested down Roland Sallai’s clever diagonal ball before letting fly on the half volley, which directly hit the part of the goal frame where the post meets the crossbar. 

The woodwork was once again struck in the 84th minute, this time coming to the aid of the Freiburg defence. Gerritt Holtmann got on the end of a free-kick delivered into the box and shot from ten yards, which took a slight deflection before hitting the post. 

“Overall, we deserved to win the match, even if we could have ended up drawing it,” summarised Christian Streich, who counted 28 attempts on goal for his side. Their final attempt of the night was a chipped shot from Nils Petersen from 30 yards, which not only went over Riemann but also the goal (89’). SCF head to Bayer Leverkusen next Saturday (15:30 CEST) as the start of Freiburg’s European campaign draws ever closer.  

Photos: Achim Keller