Because Atubolu misses the mark: Freiburg lose narrowly to West Ham
Because Atubolu misses the mark: Freiburg lose narrowly to West Ham
Because Atubolu misses the mark: Freiburg lose narrowly to West Ham
At the weekend, the Breisgau team managed a 2-0 win against FC Augsburg. In comparison, coach Christian Streich made two changes: In midfield, Höfler moved into the starting eleven for the injured Keitel, up front Adamu made his starting eleven debut for Freiburg, displacing Doan on the bench.
West Ham had some familiar faces in the starting line-up. The former Stuttgart player Mavropanos started in central defence alongside Alvarez and international Kehrer. Among others, the creative moments were to be provided by the noble technician Lucas Paqueta.
Lucas Paqueta scores early
And the Brazilian in question was right in the spotlight in the early stages: West Ham started strongly and took the lead in the 8th minute – just through Lucas Paqueta: The attacker screwed himself up at Bowen’s cross and headed into the left corner.
The SCF showed a nervous performance at the beginning, hardly got into the game against aggressive Hammers. Again and again, inaccuracies and simple mispasses crept into the game of the strike eleven.
Freiburg in luck
After such a goal, it almost made it 2-0, but Atubolu deflected Kudu’s finish to the post (12th). Shortly afterwards, Lucas Paqueta scored again, but was offside when Pablo Fornals played in (15th).
After the pressure-packed opening quarter of an hour, West Ham retreated and waited for counterattacks. Freiburg had a lot of possession but lacked ideas and pace to pose real problems for the compact away defense. There was no noteworthy finish in the first half, but there were many duels and piecemeal work between the penalty areas.
Sallai powerful equalizer
After the change of sides, the sports club showed a completely different face. The strike team came out of the dressing room with momentum and needed less than five minutes to equalize: Sallai netted powerfully with the second attempt (49′).
West Ham now looked a bit unsettled. Unlike in the first half, the ball was now quickly gone for the Hammers, while the ball went much better for the home team. SCF appeared dangerously in the final third several times and came very close to taking the lead in the 55th minute when Sildillia headed against the post and Höler then shot over from close range.
Atubolu invites West Ham
The visitors didn’t do much forward in this phase, but then benefited from a mistake by Freiburg: Atubolu fisted past a corner, Aguerd came to the header and sank the ball into the goal to make it 2-1 (66th).
As a result, the sports club tried hard, but not as compellingly as at the beginning of the second half. The better chances came in the closing stages on the other side. Because Kudus (80′) and Bowen (90′) left the decision behind, the score remained 1:2 from the SCF’s point of view in the end.
West Ham secured first place in Group A with the victory, Freiburg have progress in their own hands despite the defeat. SCF continue on Sunday (17:30 CEST) away to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. West Ham host Newcastle on Sunday (15pm).