Ahead of the game, both sides were unbeaten in five Bundesliga matches. One of these sequences came to an end at the BayArena, and, unfortunately, it was SCF who finally suffered a defeat. On Matchday 8, Leverkusen made it six in a row.

For their first of four successive away games, SC made four changes from their Europa League meeting with FC Utrecht. Lucas Höler, Derry Scherhant, Lukas Kübler and Jordy Makengo came in for Niklas Beste, Vincenzo Grifo, Christian Günter and Yuito Suzuki. Patrick Osterhage and Eren Dinkci missed out due to injury.

Freiburg started well and Scherhant, who netted early on against Eintracht Frankfurt, almost scored another early goal. In the second minute, he cut inside from the left and let fly from around 15 yards out. The net bulged, but it was only the side netting. SCF took the game to their opponents early on and Junior Adamu had another chance in the fourth minute. Johan Manzambi forced Leverkusen into an error, which allowed Adamu to shoot from inside the box. However, he could not find the back of the net.

Scherhant almost emulates Grifo

The hosts seemed somewhat shocked by Freiburg’s fast start, and it took around 15 minutes for Leverkusen to get into  the game and make strides into the SC box. Fernandez could not quite get on the end of a cross from the right, and Kübler was able to clear. Bayer free-kick specialist Grimaldo had his first opportunity in the 17th minute, but Noah Atubolu was there to turn it wide. The Werkself were now dominant, and they were rewarded with the opener. Bayer countered quickly after SCF lost the ball in midfield, and Poku struck home from around 19 yards out (22’).

Freiburg had a good chance to equalise just four minutes later, when Matthias Ginter got to the byline and cut the ball back. However, Kübler and Manzambi were not on the same wavelength, meaning it came to nothing. The hosts were more purposeful in attack, but SC put up a resistance. In the 40th minute, Scherhant placed the ball down for a free kick in almost the exact position from which Grifo has scored two recently. Scherhant’s attempt almost had the same trajectory as one of Grifo’s, and he was inches away from the equaliser. Scherhant had another chance from a free kick on the left in first-half injury time, but his strike went over.

Leverkusen pile on the pressure

The second half began with the arrival of Yuito Suzuki, who replaced Adamu. Leverkusen started the second period strongly, and had two good opportunities before Edmond Tapsoba headed in a cross to make it 2-0 in the 52nd minute. Three minutes later, SCF were fortunate not to concede a third. Atubolu made a save in the first instance before Arthur put the follow-up wide. Freiburg struggled to cope with Bayer’s attacking thrust, and Kofane had another good chance for the hosts around the hour mark, but he fired just off target.

SC found it difficult to launch attacks themselves and, around 15 minutes from time, it became even harder for them defensively. Lienhart, who had already been booked in the first half, was shown a second yellow card for a foul and was given his marching orders. Having ten men did not make things any easier. The Werkself controlled the game and remained the livelier of the two sides until the end.

SCF did not manage to threaten Bayer ‘keeper Mark Flekken’s goal again in the second half, which was partially down to the opponents’ strong defensive performance. Following a first defeat in six Bundesliga games, Julian Schuster said: “We started the match well and had two good chances straight away. We couldn’t take those opportunities, and then we conceded the first goal too easily. We weren’t good enough in the second half and were missing a certain amount of energy and intensity.”

Photo: SC Freiburg