Goals from Vincenzo Grifo and Roland Sallai earned Freiburg the hard-contested first three points of the season and gave Marco Rose a first Bundesliga defeat as Borussia Dortmund head coach.
Freiburg 2-1 Borussia Dortmund
Goals: 1-0 Grifo (6 ‘), 2-0 Salai (53 ‘), 2-1 Keitel og (59 ‘)
Grifo kicked off the farewell tour in style, during Freiburg’s penultimate match at the Dreisamstadion. The Italy international took a stunning free-kick at home, wrapping the ball in a post 30 yards to give his side the lead in six minutes. The visitors had dictated possession for the first few minutes and this theme continued, despite their delay. Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland forced Mark Flekken’s saves before the 18-year-old Englishman was the closest to scoring for Dortmund, hitting the post with his header from the corner of Gio Reyna. Wooyeong Jeong should have given the home side two goals moments later, but missed his effort just in front of goal. Nico Schulz came out injured before the break with Raphael Guerreiro for his first appearance of the campaign, with that rare chance for Freiburg late in the half that Dortmund dominated in terms of possession.
Freiburg came out confident in the second half and rightly doubled their lead eight minutes after the restart. A quick counterattack sent Jeong to the left, and his cross found Lucas Höler in the middle who headed for Sallai to strike home through a multitude of defenders. Six minutes later, play resumed when Yannik Keitel deflected the ball into his own net on a Felix Passlack cross. Dortmund continued to put the pressure on, but Freiburg’s defense was remarkable in preventing Haaland and Co. from creating clear chances. Julian Brandt, Emre Can and Mats Hummels all came on for their first outings of the season, but the visitors struggled to break through the Freiburg defense and suffered a first – and deserved – Bundesliga defeat of the era. Pink.
Match statistics
- Freiburg captain Christian Günter became the club’s absolute holder in the Bundesliga after his 237th appearance.
- Grifo’s fourth goal from a direct free kick in the Bundesliga was the 11th of his last 14 in the top flight to give his side the advantage or to draw.
- Sallai also scored Freiburg’s second goal last season.
- Maximilian Eggestein made his Freiburg debut, having signed with Werder Bremen this week.
- The Black Forest club’s victory is only their fifth overall in 43 Bundesliga games with Dortmund.
- Dortmund have now scored in 34 consecutive Bundesliga games – a new club record.
To concern: Grifo: “My free kick was amazing”
Queues
Freiburg: Flekken – Schmid, Lienhart, N. Schlotterbeck, Günter (c) – Keitel (Eggestein 86 ‘), Höfler, Grifo (Kübler 84’) – Sallai (Schade 71 ‘), Höler (Demirovic 71’), Jeong (Haberer 71 ‘ ))
Unused subtitles: Uphoff, Heintz, K. Schlotterbeck, Weißhaupt
Outside: Burkart (kick), Gulde (hip), Petersen (knee)
Coach: Christian streich
Dortmund: Kobel – Passlack (Can 79 ‘), Witsel (Hummels 79’), Akanji, Schulz (Guerreiro 38 ‘) – Bellingham, Dahoud, Reyna (Brandt 71’) – Reus (c) – Haaland, Malen (Moukoko 79 ‘)
Unused subtitles: Hitz, Delaney, Reinier, Loup
Outside: Coulibaly (knee), Hazard (ankle), Meunier (fitness match), Morey (knee), Schmelzer (knee), Zagadou (knee)
Coach: Marco rose
To concern: Bellingham: “We’re still getting used to the style of play”
