Football Bundesliga
BVB defies Leverkusen point – SC Freiburg wins at Mainz 05
Michael Gregoritsch (M.) celebrates his first goal of the Bundesliga season with the SC Freiburg team
© Torsten Silz / DPA
The top game in the Bundesliga did not see a winner: Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen fought for a draw. SC Freiburg ends its mini-crisis against FSV Mainz 05.
When Dortmund coach Edin Terzic talked to referee Daniel Siebert for a long time, his counterpart Xabi Alonso had already come to terms with the draw in the top game. The undefeated league leaders found their way against Borussia’s defensive bulwark Bayer Leverkusen didn’t have a solution for a long time, but in the end they managed to score 1-1 (0-1) thanks to Victor Boniface. The striker equalized in the 79th minute and saved the Werkself from their first defeat in the 20th game of the season.
But Terzic was more upset about a missed penalty after an alleged foul on Karim Adeyemi. “For me there are no two opinions. This is a clear contact, this is a clear penalty. We were deprived of the great opportunity to make it 2-0. We discuss the VAR week after week, we discuss clear ones Wrong decisions, handball, foul play and so on. That completely upsets me. That’s not fair,” Terzic said in outrage at DAZN.
As a result of the draw, Bayer remains the main rival in the Bundesliga title fight of series champions FC Bayern Munich, who now have three points less after their canceled game against 1. FC Union Berlin. However, Bayer gave up points again for the first time after 14 competitive game wins in a row.
FSV Mainz 05 – SC Freiburg
SC Freiburg has ended its small results crisis in the Bundesliga and inflicted its first defeat on FSV Mainz 05 under new coach Jan Siewert. Thanks to a goal from Michael Gregoritsch (69th minute), the Breisgauer team scored 1-0 (0-0) in front of 30,300 spectators on Sunday after four games without a win in a row and moved up to eighth place in the table with 18 points.
Mainz remains penultimate in a relegation zone with eight points. The 05ers had previously recorded one win and three draws under Siewert, who took over from Bo Svensson at the beginning of November.
Because Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner had to miss out due to a finger injury, Daniel Batz made his second Bundesliga appearance between the posts after eleven and a half years. The 32-year-old made his debut in May 2012 – wearing the Freiburg jersey.
Bundesliga on Sunday: Keeper saves SC Freiburg from falling behind early
Initially, SC keeper Noah Atubolu came into focus. The 21-year-old saved his team from falling behind early on a header from Ludovic Ajorque (4th) and later made a strong save against Brajan Gruda. Shortly beforehand, Ajorque had once again missed Mainz’s lead when he chased the ball just over the Freiburg goal from five meters.
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In the middle of the first half, the guests, who had shone 5-0 against Olympiakos Piraeus in the Europa League during the week, had their first chances. Ritzu Doan’s shot was missed by Batz, who had luck on his side a little later when Gregoritsch shot off the post.
FSV Mainz 05 weaker in the first half
Between these two scenes, the guests had to accept a personnel setback in the fast-paced and entertaining game. Central defender Matthias Ginter had to leave the field injured after 24 minutes; Manuel Gulde came on to replace the national player.
In stoppage time in the first half, the Breisgauers sniffed the lead again. After a wide cross, Gregoritsch got to the ball in front of Batz, but only headed it onto the outside post. On the other hand, Atubolu saved against Sepp van den Berg. So it went into the break goalless.
After the substitution, Mainz pressed, but the redeeming goal refused to come despite several opportunities. During this phase, Freiburg hardly got out of their own half and did not carry out any organized offensive actions.
The guest tour therefore came as a surprise. Gregoritsch came to the ball in the penalty area by chance and gave Batz no chance with a low shot into the corner. In the final phase, the home team threw everything forward again, but they were unable to equalize.