Freiburg coach Christian Streich was “very happy” about a “wonderful reaction” at the end of the turbulent duel; his Hoffenheim colleague Pellegrino Matarazzo was loud in the dressing room.
In an entertaining Baden duel in the Bundesliga, SC Freiburg only lost a 2-0 win against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. And in the end, being outnumbered, they celebrated an important 3:2 (1:0) in the scramble for the European Cup places.
Emotionally charged, Hoffenheim’s coach Matarazzo then expressed displeasure with his team. “It was about a lot,” the visiting coach reported afterwards: “It was about the entire game,” he said, criticizing, among other things, that his team was too “discouraged” in the first half.
Anger over possible foul play before SC’s winning goal
He was particularly annoyed by the third and decisive goal conceded and a possible foul by Freiburg’s Maximilian Eggestein on Andrej Kramaric. “There’s no question as to whether it’s a foul! He’s leaning on his back! He’s doing a piggyback, he’s completely turning him around,” complained Matarazzo on Sky: “That’s not possible, that’s a clear foul. That no one intervenes in this situation is also incomprehensible to me.”
After this scene, Roland Sallai scored a follow-up shot in front of 33,600 spectators to give Freiburg success (85th minute). “I would also be upset if I were him,” admitted Eggestein with a view to Kramaric, but also made it clear: “But I think it’s a bit too little to call it back.” Eggestein then spoke of a “very great game” and SC striker Michael Gregoritsch was “full of adrenaline” even longer after the final whistle and Freiburg’s happy ending.
Grifo shines
In the freezing cold, Vincenzo Grifo initially shone as an assist and goalscorer in his 250th competitive game for Freiburg. The offensive midfielder crossed to Höler to make it 1-0, who scored with a direct pass (36′). However, the cheering was initially abruptly stopped. Only after video evidence did referee Sascha Stegemann reverse the offside decision.
A loss of the ball by Grillitsch, who moved back into the Hoffenheim defensive line, led to the hosts’ second goal. Grifo fooled the Hoffenheim defense and shot into the far corner against TSG keeper Oliver Baumann (55th).
Just a brief joy at a two-goal lead
But in the second half the hosts lost control of the game – and the joy of their two-goal lead was short-lived. Hoffenheim developed more pressure and managed to equalize thanks to Wout Weghorst (57th) and Maximilian Beier (77th). Freiburg suffered the next setback when defender Manuel Gulde was shown a yellow-red card (82′). The expulsion was also controversial, said Streich and, looking at the scene before the winning goal, said: “Both were difficult to decide. Once it was for us, once it was against us.”
His Freiburgers are seventh in the table, now four points ahead of Hoffenheim and are level on points with Eintracht Frankfurt. For Hoffenheim, the negative trend continues with only one win from the last ten Bundesliga games.
