33rd matchday
Joker of the hour: Günter and Petersen let Freiburg celebrate
Nils Petersen (r) scored in his last home game for Freiburg to make it 2-0. photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
Too cheesy to be true: Edeljoker Petersen scores in his last home game as a professional soccer player. The dream of the Champions League lives on for Freiburg shortly before the season finale. Wolfsburg is worried.
Perennial favorite Christian Günter and Edeljoker Nils Petersen kept SC Freiburg’s Champions League dream alive and ensured a highly emotional football party in Breisgau.
In an unusual role as a joker, captain Günter scored the important opening goal in the 2-0 (0-0) win against VfL Wolfsburg – 39 seconds after he was substituted on (71st minute). Later, Petersen (75th) completed his last home game as a professional to make it 2-0. The red card from Nicolas Höfler (90.3.) after a serious foul in injury time spoiled the Freiburg football festival a bit.
RB Leipzig in third place in the Bundesliga with one point more than SC at Bayern and 1. FC Union Berlin in fourth and tied with Freiburg at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim are now challenged.
In any case, the team of coach Christian Streich can still hope for a premiere in the premier class after the victory in front of 33,300 spectators. At the start of the 33rd match day, the two substitutes brought the momentum that had been missing in the game with few highlights for a long time. Unlike in the women’s DFB Cup final the day before, Wolfsburg left the field as a loser this time and feared falling out of the international ranks shortly before the end of the season.
There was a first bang an hour before the start, when fireworks were ignited not far from the stadium to open the Freiburg “Spring Fair”. The sports club also had plans before kick-off: Freiburg not only said goodbye to Petersen, but also to defensive player Jonathan Schmid and stadium announcer Claus Köhn. There were three identification figures of the past years. Ex-coach Volker Finke and former national coach Joachim Löw joined the emotional ceremony via video message.
Only one thing counted for both clubs on the pitch: a win. For the sports club to save one last premier class chance. For the guests to secure sixth place and thus an international participation. But there wasn’t much to see at first. Wolfsburg waited and established themselves on the defensive.
The Breisgauer, where Günter was on the bench for the first time since April 2017 in a Bundesliga game without suspension, were the more active team. Again and again it went over the left flank and Vincenzo Grifo, but none of his shots were really dangerous. When asked why Günter was sitting outside this time, Streich only said: “Because Noah Weißhaupt is playing. That’s a stupid answer, but it’s a bit like that.” The 0:0 at half time corresponded to the course of the game despite more active Freiburgers.
After the break, Freiburg increased the pressure. Only national player Matthias Ginter (54th) missed to provide the lead after a sharp free kick. The substitutes, who brought Streich 20 minutes before the end of the game, did that. A violent shot by Günter was fortunately deflected and heralded the Freiburg festival. It was fitting that Petersen scored after a further assist from the outstanding Roland Sallai. Petersen then even scored a second time, but the video assistant recognized it 3-0. But Streich also had tears in his eyes on an emotional evening.