This DFB-Pokal second-round clash was not just any other game for Christian Günter, who was named in the starting line-up. After 440 competitive matches and many years of loyalty to the club, the SCF captain and academy product drew level with Andreas Zeyer as our all-time record appearance maker. “It’s hard to put into words. It doesn’t get any better than this,” said the 32-year-old after the game, reflecting both on his record and the successful outcome of a tension-packed evening.

Freiburg made six changes to their starting line-up from the 2-0 defeat in Leverkusen. As well as Günter, Niklas Beste, Yuito Suzuki, Vincenzo Grifo, Florian Müller and Igor Matanovic came in. They replaced Jordy Makengo, Philipp Treu, Lucas Höler, Derry Scherhant, Noah Atubolu and Junior Adamu.

Markus Anfang, who took over as head coach of Fortuna at the start of the month, made two alterations to his side following their injury-time defeat to Hertha at the weekend. Cedric Itten and Shinta Appelkamp came in for Danny Schmidt and Emmanuel Iyoha.

The perfect start

The approximately 4,000 Freiburg fans who made the trip to the Rhineland were rewarded for their enthusiasm early on. After a backheel pass from Vincenzo Grifo, Johan Manzambi advanced down the left and into the penalty area. His ball into the six-yard box found Matanovic, who, on his first start for the club, slid in to turn home the opener (1’).

Those fans were able to celebrate their second of the day just five minutes later. Kenneth Schmidt, who joined Düsseldorf from SC in the summer, saw a throw-in in his own half land at the feet of Matanovic. The scorer of the first goal lifted the ball through to Vincenzo Grifo, who kept his cool to slot past Düsseldorf goalkeeper Florian Kastenmeier and into the corner of the net.

Fortuna did not seem to be affected by conceding two early goals, and became increasingly adventurous after around the ten-minute mark. They then halved the deficit with their first effort on Müller’s goal. Kenneth Schmidt headed a cross from the right into the path of Anouar El Azzouzi, who struck home from close range (20’).

After the third goal of the day, the match continued to be an enthralling and incident-packed encounter. SCF gradually regained control of the game and almost made it 3-1 in the 35th minute from a Ginter volley following a Grifo free kick. However, Freiburg still went into the break with a narrow lead.

Pressure on the Freiburg goal

The second half at a lively Merkur Spiel-Arena began with the hosts piling on the pressure. Fortuna had two early chances in quick succession which the SC defence were only just able to keep out. The next big opportunity also fell to the second-tier side. Müller reacted brilliantly to turn Tim Oberdorf’s effort from distance onto the post with a superb reflex save (54’).

During this period of the game, Fortuna dominated and SCF struggled to get out. The hosts thought they had equalised in the 59th minute through Schmidt, but the goal was ruled out as the defender was narrowly offside when a free kick was delivered.

Günter’s landmark evening came to an end in the 63rd minute as the left-back was replaced by Jordy Makengo. Four minutes later, Freiburg threatened for the first time in the half. A dangerous cross into the six-yard box by Manzambi was almost turned into his own net by a Fortuna defender.

Scherhant strikes in injury time

With 20 minutes to go, SC’s fragile lead remained intact amid torrential rain in Düsseldorf. SCF were now able to evade the opponent’s high press on a more regular basis, and, through Grifo, had a huge chance to restore their two-goal advantage (74’).

The settler did come in the third minute of injury time through Derry Scherhant. Kastenmeier had come forward for a corner, and he could only watch as the set piece was cleared, allowing Suzuki to play the ball into the substitute. Scherhant calmly slotted into the empty net after running a significant distance.

“This was the kind of Pokal battle we expected. We obviously made the perfect start with those two goals, and that gave us a cushion. We spent a lot of time preparing to face this opponent. Today, you could see why,” said Julian Schuster after the game. “I’m very pleased with the performance. I have to compliment Düsseldorf. They made it a tough challenge for us.”

“It’s never easy to play away in the Pokal against a second-tier side who are well set up tactically,” added the record-equalling captain Günter. “The second half was a war of attrition. We stopped playing for a bit. That’s something we need to look at.”

Freiburg’s next match will see them travel to the capital for a meeting with Union Berlin on Saturday (15:30 CET).

Photo: SC Freiburg