From a goal down to 3-1 up – Freiburg’s substitutes turned the derby on its head in the space of 11 breathless minutes, igniting wild celebrations among the home fans after the team had spent much of the game chasing Stuttgart’s lead. Their resilience and effort paid off, much to the delight of head coach Julian Schuster: “We always kept faith in our strengths and were able to reward ourselves with the goals in the end. I have to pay a huge compliment to the team and the fans – together they created a fantastic energy in the stadium.”

Three changes to the line-up

Following the heavy defeat in Cologne, Schuster made three changes to his starting XI. Jordy Makengo replaced Christian Günter at left-back, Niklas Beste came in for Eren Dinkci on the right wing, and Patrick Osterhage started in place of Yuito Suzuki, who had only returned from international duty with Japan on Friday and was not in the squad.

Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeneß also rotated three players after their 1-0 win over Gladbach, bringing in the fit-again Jeff Chabot in defence and handing starts in attack to late summer arrivals Bilal El Khannouss and Badredine Bouanani. Ramon Hendriks and Tiago Tomás dropped to the bench, while the injured Deniz Undav was unavailable.

Strong start, but behind once again

The sold-out Europa-Park Stadion was rocking well before kick-off. “The rivalry can help us bring exactly the kind of energy we need onto the pitch,” Schuster had said on Thursday – and his team began with energy and intent.

Despite a couple of early half-chances, SC couldn’t make their pressure count. Then, with Stuttgart’s first real effort, they struck. Former Freiburg striker Ermedin Demirovic held the ball up under pressure from two defenders before flicking a back-heel into the far corner to make it 1-0 (20’).

Freiburg responded with chances of their own – Beste tested Alexander Nübel (27’), and Johan Manzambi fired narrowly wide while falling (34’). The visitors, however, sat deeper and deeper as half-time approached, closing down every gap. Just before the break, Osterhage headed a Grifo cross over the bar.

Pressure builds after the restart

Freiburg increased the tempo after the break. Lukas Kübler forced Nübel into a fine save at his near post (51’), before Manzambi’s effort moments later was deflected just wide.

At the other end, Stuttgart’s attack barely threatened. Despite SC pushing higher up the pitch, their defence remained solid.

Substitutes make the difference

The equaliser had been coming – and it finally arrived in the 81st minute. Just after coming on, Matanovic met a powerful Kübler cross with a first-time strike that cannoned in off the inside of the post.

Five minutes later, the turnaround was complete. Manzambi slipped Scherhant through, and although Nübel saved the initial effort, the youngster smashed in the rebound to make it 2-1 (86’).

Manzambi was at the heart of things again soon after, bursting into the box and being brought down near the byline. Matanovic stepped up and buried the penalty for his second of the day (90+2’), sealing an unforgettable win.

Even nearly ten minutes of added time couldn’t dampen the celebrations. The only negative note came when Manzambi was shown a straight red card late on for dangerous play.

“For us, this is a very important result. It’s good that we have the depth to make an impact late in games,” summed up Schuster afterwards.

SC Freiburg now head to Werder Bremen next Saturday (15:30 CEST) before welcoming FC Basel on 24th September (21:00 CEST) in the Europa League.

Photo: Achim Keller