In front of 300 spectators in the Karlsruhe Grenke Stadium, Karlsruher SC tested against Bundesliga club SC Freiburg. Even if Freiburg had more of the game, were there one or two positive surprises on the Karlsruhe side? especially in the form of the goalscorer.
Christian Streich didn’t seem to care that this game was just a test match. The coach of the Bundesliga soccer team conducted and grumbled as if it were about relegation. His counterpart Christian Eichner, coach of the second division club Karlsruher SC, on the other hand, was more of a silent observer at this test match in the Grenke youth stadium.
Image: Mia
Compared to the 1-1 draw in the league against HSV, the KSC coach changed his team in several positions. Markus Kuster, Kilian Jakob, Dominik Kother, Fabian Schleusener and Fabio Kaufmann joined the team for Marius Gersbeck, Christoph Kobald (ligament injury), Jérôme Gondorf (injured), Tim Breithaupt (U20 international game trip) and Marc Lorenz (shoulder injury). In an offensive 4-4-2, Kyoung-Rok Choi started alongside captain Marvin Wanitzek in central midfield.
KSC struggles in the initial phase
With the early start of the Freiburg team, the newly formed Karlsruhe team had problems in the initial phase. After Lukas Kübler (2nd, 5th) came closer, the guests from Breisgau took the lead after seven minutes. Janik Haberer headed a cross from the left again at Nishan Burkart, who nodded off from close range to make it 1-0 for Freiburg.
Image: Mia
The Karlsruhe double storm Philipp Hofmann and Fabian Schleusener was completely in the air at the beginning of the game. The Bundesliga team developed other promising opportunities, including the conspicuous Kiliann Sildillia who had the 2-0 from 15 meters on the foot (14th).
In the middle of the first half, the KSC coped better with the aggressive style of play of the Freiburg team and driven by a very ball-safe Choi, who repeatedly played good balls in depth, the hosts also had their first chances. After 24 minutes, Wanitzek started solo and came to a close after a one-two with Kother from 14 meters from a central position. However, his shot was deflected slightly and landed over the goal of SC keeper Benjamin Uphoff, who is anything but unknown at the Adenauerring.
Image: Mia
However, the visiting sports club remained superior and increased to 2-0 after half an hour. Vincenzo Grifo served Kübler with a dream pass and the offensive full-back put the ball in the far corner in front of Kuster.
Four KSC changes after 30 minutes
Immediately after the goal, KSC coach Christian Eichner, Felix Irorere, Ricardo van Rhijn, Lucas Cueto and Jannis Rabold brought in Thiede, Heise, Gordon and Hofmann. Shortly before the break, Schleusener carelessly missed a promising counterattack when he played the ball into the feet of SC defender Dominique Heintz (44th) in a 2-1 outnumbered situation.
Image: Mia
After the break, both teams changed again, with the hosts goalkeeper Niklas Heeger for Kuster and U17 player Efe-Kaan Sihlaroglu for Choi. The guests had the people of Karlsruhe set up more calmly and the people of North Baden clearly felt at home with it. After sharp crosses from Cueto (49th) and new signing van Rhijn (52nd), neither of whom found a buyer, a standard situation ensured the connection goal.
With his corner, Wanitzek found Kother’s head, who hit the post from eight meters (53rd). Kother rewarded himself with his goal for a very conspicuous game, he looked for and won one-on-one situations over and over again over 90 minutes.
Image: Mia
However, the second half flattened out more and more. Scoring chances were in short supply, only Haberer had a great opportunity to make it 3-1 with a head from eight meters shortly before the final whistle, but aimed too high (91st).
KSC trainer Eichner satisfied with the performance
So it stayed at 2: 1 from Freiburg’s point of view. “That was a decent performance from us, except for the first ten minutes. We didn’t really get into the game then, after that it was better,” said KSC coach Eichner after the game. “All in all, we did it properly.”
He gave extra praise for his goal scorer Kother – With a small caveat: “He’s a player who has every opportunity up front. But: We need clarity as a team in the defensive network. He had that, but only after ten minutes, like the entire team. We need this basis.”
–
