Freiburg (dpa) – Vincenzo Grifo saved his nerves – and SC Freiburg from another setback. Thanks to their Italian national player, the Breisgauers celebrated their first victory in the Bundesliga in almost three months with a 2-0 (0-0) against newly promoted Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday and the first in the home stadium this season.
The offensive man scored in the 79th minute with a penalty kick and thus already in the third game in a row. Joker Wooyeong Jeong (90. + 2) later increased for the sports club, which after nine winless games in a row gained some air in the table cellar. “We are very happy,” said Freiburg coach Christian Streich. “It’s very difficult to win against Bielefeld. We made it and in the end we forced it.”
Arminia, who only got one point away, remains on the relegation place. Your coach Uwe Neuhaus spoke of a “not undeserved, but avoidable” defeat of his team. The decisive penalty was “undoubtedly justified”.
In an overall quite tough game, the Freiburg team were clearly the better team, but only rarely came to a conclusion in the pouring rain. When the hosts became dangerous, their record scorer Nils Petersen, who was in the starting line-up instead of new signing Ermedin Demirovic, was usually involved. In the 18th minute, the 32-year-old’s header was denied because Christian Günter had previously been offside. Six minutes before the break, Bielefeld goalkeeper Stefan Ortega parried against Grifo – and Petersen slammed the margin against the crossbar from close range.
Arminia, where midfielder Reinhold Yabo was out due to illness, concentrated mainly on defensive work. Significantly, her keeper Ortega had the second most ball contacts in the first half. A deflected shot by Sven Schipplock (22nd) from the edge of the penalty area was the only significant chance the guests had before the break.
The sports club also dominated the second half. Grifo failed once from the right (53rd) and once from the left (59th) on the strong Ortega, then Petersen was significantly disturbed by the margin. From the Bielefeld team there was still little offensively. Joakim Nilsson headed (67th) and Anderson Lucoqui with a long-range shot (74th) each aimed too high.
A little more than ten minutes before the end, the Freiburg team rewarded themselves for their effort. After Bielefeld’s Mike van der Hoorn fouled Roland Sallai, Grifo hit the lower left corner from the point. In stoppage time, the substitute Jeong refined Baden’s break free with a nice lift to his first Bundesliga goal.
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