Curiously conceded goals, bad luck in finishing and a lack of standard strength were the main reasons for the first home defeat of SC Freiburg after a season-long run of nine unbeaten games in their own stadium.
For coach Christian Streich, the lack of match luck for the first time this season was the main reason why his team lost at home for the first time in a long time and also conceded their second defeat in a row with the 0:2 against Frankfurt. The numbers confirm this. The Sport-Club had more possession against Frankfurt (62 per cent) and also shot more often on goal (21:13), but in some situations the team was “really unlucky “, said Streich. Nicolas Höfler had headed against the post, Tuta had cleared a shot by Grifo on the line. The chances for the equaliser were there, but Freiburg could not take them.
Frankfurt effective – Flekken criticises himself
In contrast, Eintracht were very effective. The Freiburgers, however, were unhappy with the way the two goals they conceded just before the break were “symptomatic “ of the game for Streich. In Jesper Lindström’s goal, Lukas Kübler was involuntarily set up in the penalty area. And when Filip Kostic’s free-kick from around 30 metres bounced off the turf to the inside of the post, Mark Flekken did not want to accuse himself of a clear goalkeeping error, but he nevertheless shared the blame at the Sportschau microphone. “I didn’t come back quickly enough, I was a bit too far in front of the goal line,” said the Dutchman.
If I could turn it back, I would do it differently.
After the break, SC switched from a 3-4-3 to a 4-4-2, defender Nico Schlotterbeck had to make way for attacker Kevin Schade. Due to muscular problems, Schlotterbeck’s use had been questionable until shortly before the game. These problems had not reappeared, but his substitution was not only tactical. According to Streich, it was a precautionary measure on the one hand, but the 21-year-old was also unable to build on the very good performances of the previous games after his compulsory break. “If I could turn it back, I would do it differently “, Streich said about Schlotterbeck’s nomination. But he was by no means the reason for the defeat, “the reason was that we didn’t score a goal”.
With the substitute Schade, the Sport-Club had its best phase, the youngster was often only to be stopped by fouls, some of which were also punished with yellow. The fact that Freiburg were unable to make use of the following free kicks showed a weakness on Sunday afternoon. “We weren’t quite as good at standards, and Frankfurt defended it very well,” said Streich, “Frankfurt put away everything that could be put away in the second half, if the ball wasn’t there, the bodies were. “
We could have played on for another half hour and it wouldn’t have gone in.
However, he was satisfied with his team’s performance in the second half, “We played with pace and power, we put everything into it “ Grifo, who had two good chances in the first half, agreed. “We tried everything, if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work,” Grifo told DAZN, “we could have played on for another half hour and he wouldn’t have gone in – there are games like that.” But he saw no reason to hang his head after the defeats at Bayern and against Frankfurt: “We’re playing a great season and we’ll try to get the next three points in Bochum.” And the Freiburg team will still travel to VfL in third place in the table.
