Third win in the third home game: SC Freiburg remains a power in the Europa League in their own stadium and has already secured participation in the knockout round. The Bundesliga club won against RB Salzburg 1-0 (0-0) and thereby increased its chances of even moving straight into the round of 16. The 17-time Austrian champion may soon have to write off even reaching the playoffs.
Defender Philipp Lienhart, who was recently injured, scored for Freiburg in the 50th minute in front of 31,100 spectators and became the match winner in the duel with his compatriots. At RB, striker Petar Ratkov was shown red after an elbow strike in the first half (37th).
In what was at times a rather disjointed first half, Freiburg initially became dangerous primarily through long-range shots. Yuito Suzuki (18th) and the once again eye-catching Johan Manzambi (27th) each finished on the edge of the penalty area, but aimed too high. After a good half hour, Maximilian Eggestein headed just past the goal from a corner and missed SC’s best chance to date.
The Salzburg team, who had to make do without their German head coach Thomas Letsch due to illness and were looked after by his assistant coach Kai Hesse, had slacked off somewhat after a lively initial phase. The sending off of Ratkov made their task even more difficult. The striker had extended his elbow against Eggestein in midfield and was first shown yellow, but then red after a video check.
Shortly before the break, RB could have taken the lead when they were outnumbered. Freiburg were very lucky that the fast Edmund Baidoo ultimately put the ball next to the goal during a promising counterattack (42nd).
The second half started strangely. After Manzambi fell in the penalty area, Freiburg would have liked to get a penalty (48th). Instead there was a corner – and it made it 1-0. A low shot from Niklas Beste flew into the fray, Lienhart kept his foot in and directed the ball into the net. By now the hosts were fully on course for the knockout rounds.
Matthias Ginter (58th) and Beste (84th) missed further good opportunities for Freiburg. Although they had the game largely under control, they didn’t push hard enough for the second goal. Ultimately, SC, who face Borussia Dortmund in the league on Sunday, managed to get the lead over time.
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