6th matchday
Grifo scores and serves: Freiburg wrestles down Augsburg
The SC Freiburg players celebrate Philipp Lienhart’s (2nd from left) 2-0 win. photo
© Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa
SC Freiburg wins a hard-fought game against FC Augsburg and is ready for the next European Cup highlight. Vincenzo Grifo scores from the penalty spot and prepares the decision.
At the end of the sixth matchday, the Baden team defeated FC Augsburg 2-0 (1-0). Vincenzo Grifo in the fifth minute with a penalty kick and Philipp Lienhart with a header after an assist from Grifo (56th) scored the goals in front of 33,134 spectators. On Thursday, Freiburg, who are in the upper middle of the table with ten points, will meet the English Conference League winner and supposedly strongest group opponent West Ham in the European Cup.
A week after their first win of the season against FSV Mainz 05 (2:1), the Augsburg team suffered another setback and slipped back into the bottom third of the table.
The SC got off to a perfect start and took the lead with their first offensive action. Augsburg’s left full-back Iago fouled opponent Roland Sallai in the penalty area. Referee Harm Osmers gave a penalty, watched the scene again on the screen – and stuck to his decision. Grifo hammered the ball into the top right corner. It was his 50th Bundesliga goal for Freiburg and his first this season.
The Italian international is currently leading the SC as captain because Christian Günter will be out for a longer period due to an infection in his broken forearm. Günter’s teammates sent the 30-year-old a greeting before the game on Sunday. During the warm-up they wore black shirts with Günter’s name and his number 30 on the back.
Augsburg tried to respond quickly after falling behind early on. After a mistake by Freiburg’s Yannik Keitel, striker Phillip Tietz was denied by SC keeper Noah Atubolu (9th). Ten minutes later, Keitel had to be replaced with an injury, and the young Merlin Röhl replaced him in Breisgauer’s central midfield.
The game was competitive, but also full of errors and not pleasant to watch at times. The Freiburg team didn’t allow much at the back, but they couldn’t think of much at the front. Shortly before the break, Augsburg’s Ermedin Demirovic shot well past his former club’s goal (45th + 4).
A few minutes after the start of the second half, FCA fans shot off fireworks from the visitors’ block, and then, figuratively speaking, there was a fire in the Fuggerstadt penalty area. Grifo took a corner from the left side to the first post, Lienhart headed it in to make it 2-0. The second goal inspired Freiburg. The FCA also had chances through Demirovic (66th/67th) and even a supposed goal through joker Sven Michel, but this did not count due to an offside position (80th).