ALed by the marksmen Vincenzo Grifo and Nico Schlotterbeck, SC Freiburg gave its coach Christian Streich a very special gift to extend his contract. The people of Breisgau deservedly won 3-2 (2-0) against VfL Wolfsburg and continue to dream of the premier class after their coach’s record win.
With a fantastic free kick and a spectacular volley, Grifo (7’/44′) gave the surprise team a clear lead. Max Kruse (52nd) and Maximilian Arnold (84th) equalized for Wolfsburg, but then Schlotterbeck’s violent shot (87th) decided the game. With his 104th Bundesliga victory with the Sport-Club, Streich has now caught up with Volker Finke in the list of Freiburg record coaches.
During the week, the coach had extended his contract again, in the summer he is already in his twelfth season. Before the kick-off, however, he had to cope with several corona-related failures. The last ailing top performer Schlotterbeck and Nicolas Höfler were available after a yellow card suspension.
The people of Freiburg started furiously and took the 25,000 fans with them straight away. The hosts showed themselves to be handy, switched quickly again and again and caused big problems for coach Florian Kohfeldt’s team. After Grifo flicked the ball into the corner with a free kick, Ermedin Demirovic (10′) just missed the double with a hit on the post.
Wolfsburg, who had to do without goalkeeper Koen Casteels (hip problems), remained harmless. Attacking star Kruse, for example, rarely showed his strengths against his former club. Kohfeldt could see the dissatisfaction on the sidelines.
Freiburg, on the other hand, improved again after a quiet phase in the middle of the first half. Lucas Höler (34′) and Christian Günter (40′) just missed the second goal, then Grifo stopped the ball technically demanding after a cross and completed it directly from close range.
The visitors got off to a better start in the second half. Kruse, who had been inconspicuous until then, stayed cool in front of SC goalkeeper Mark Flekken and easily pushed in. Shortly thereafter, Freiburg had good chances again through Demirovic (56th/60th) and were initially not unsettled by the goal conceded.
Defensively, Streich’s pros defended passionately, while offensively, Grifo and Co. provided relief again and again. Before the start of a hard-fought final phase, Freiburg had the best chance in Wolfsburg, however, that substitute Lukas Nmecha (67th) put the ball just over the goal.
Then Schlotterbeck owed Arnold the equalizer – and only moments later scored from the edge of the penalty area.
