After a tight and tense game at the Allianz Arena, a Nils Petersen penalty was enough to secure a hard-fought 1-0 win for SC Freiburg over 1860 Munich.

Freiburg, following their spectacular opening game thrashing of 1. FC Nürnberg, unsurprisingly opted to remain unchanged from the 6-3 victory. 1860 Munich, who fell to defeat thanks to a late Kevin Kraus header in their first outing, made two alterations. Vladimir Kovac and Krisztian Simon were benched and replaced by Kai Bülow and Stephan Hain respectively.

The game started slowly, with neither team willing to show their hand early on. Nils Petersen was being followed across the pitch with every step he took - 1860 were not keen to have him score a second quick-fire hat-trick in as many weeks.

Early chances fall to both sides

Valdet Rama was the man making moves for the hosts, and his tricky play won a free-kick in a dangerous area. It almost paved the way for the opener, only for Stephan Hain to head over from two yards out. Thankfully for the forward, the near-side linesman had his flag up for offside.

Freiburg responded in emphatic fashion, after Hain's miss seemingly sparked the game into life. Vincenzo Grifo continued his impressive form from the previous game and thundered a volley onto the bar, after good closing down from Mike Frantz to create the chance. Vitus Eicher was beaten for pace and power, though the woodwork made a crucial intervention.

Midfield stalemate takes hold

Hain did his best to trouble Alexander Schwolow once more, only for his acrobatic effort to fly well over the bar. That was it for the first half and despite Freiburg's dominance in possession, they couldn't turn it into chances and, ultimately, a crucial goal.

The second half, like the first, was a slow burner. Both were struggling to break down each other's defence and needless foul were beginning to creep into the game. Given Freiburg's defensive lapses in their opening game, this was an improvement - although the chances of the opening the scoring were dwindling by the minute.

Maximilian Philipp fired a curling effort on target with 20 minutes to spare, forcing Eicher to back-peddle rapidly to push it over. That was a sign of things to come, as the deadlock was finally broken. Once more, it was a late goal that went against the Lions.

Freiburg take the lead

Hain, who had been the hosts' most likely player to provide the breakthrough, hauled down Frantz in the area following Grifo's free-kick. He protested his innocence but Guido Winkmann had his mind made up. Petersen stepped up and confidently dispatched the penalty, sending Eicher the wrong way to give Freiburg the advantage.

The drama was coming thick and fast late on, with Immanuel Höhn blocking well from Rubin Okotie and then Schwolow denying a follow up effort from Daniel Adlung. Neither came as close as Daylon Claasen, however, with the South African curling just over from 25 yards.

Despite the late fight-back it was too little too late for the hosts, as another late goal left them without a point going into the first round of the DFB-Pokal next weekend. For Freiburg, this showed that they have the grit and determination to maintain a promotion push this season - two wins from two left them top of the table with VfL Bochum, who beat MSV Duisburg earlier in the day.