SC Freiburg have adjusted brilliantly to life back in the 2. Bundesliga and they went into Sunday's game in third place and had the chance to move into the top spot, providing they defeated a FSV Frankfurt side who have made a bright start to their campaign.
The two teams have only played each other twice, back in the 2008/09 2. Bundesliga season. Freiburg came out on top in both occasions and they were looking to do that again in this meeting.
Slow starts sees Freiburg begin to dominate
Unfortunately the match wasn't an entertaining game straight from the off, as it took a while to get going.
In fact it was a good 25 minutes before anything noteworthy happened. That all important first piece of action came from the hosts. Maximilian Philipp produced a great solo run which saw him beat a couple of players before being taken down by Fanol Perdedaj. Much to the surprise of the Freiburg players and fans, the penalty wasn't given.
That didn't seem to matter as four minutes later Freiburg were awarded a penalty when Nicolas Höfler charged into the area and Joan Oumari brought him down. Nils Petersen stepped up for the penalty and it was a poorly taken one, as Andre Weis was able to comfortably save.
Freiburg continued to dominate the first half and they came very close to an opener when Mike Frantz's cross from the right picked out Lucas Hufnagel and his effort from ten yards out saw Weis react well to deny the young Georgian.
Freiburg kill the game either side of half-time
Six minutes from the break and Freiburg finally found the back of the net. They worked the ball well down the left and Höfler played back to Philipp and the 21-year-old had time to take a touch a drill a low shot past a defender and into the bottom corner. Weis in the Frankfurt didn't move as the shot flew well out of his reach.
Freiburg didn't rest up in the second period and they doubled their lead four minutes into the half. Amir Abrashi picked up the ball from some way out and brought the ball inside, with time and space he unleashed an unstoppable effort from 25 yards out. The rocket of a shot clipped the inside of the post on it's way in and poor Weis in the Frankfurt goal had no chance once again.
FSV Frankfurt struggled going forward throughout the match and there weren't many opportunities for their fans to cheer. With the game almost in the last 20 minutes they did muster up something. Shawn Maurice Barry whipped in a great low cross that found Dani Schahin, however Alexander Schwolow was alert to save with his leg.
One of the last chances of the match saw Freiburg come close to making it 3-0, it was three on two as they burst forward with pace. Christian Günter played the ball into Tim Kleindienst and the young forward struck his shot low but Weis managed to save with his left foot and the chance was gone.
As previously mentioned, the win means Freiburg go to the top of the table and up next they'll be looking to defeat struggling Karlsruhe and try to move away from the chasing pack. As for FSV Frankfurt, they'll be looking to bounce back with a victory and next week they have an important match against fellow mid-table side Heidenheim.