SC Freiburg 2-0 Union Berlin result, stats and report

SC Freiburg 2-0 Union Berlin. Write it down. That scoreline does not flatter Freiburg one bit. In fact, it probably flatters Union Berlin.

This was a performance built on the basics. Desire. Competing in every duel. Making the right decisions at the right moments. Freiburg did all of that. Union Berlin did not. End of.

How the Goals Arrived

The opener came on 55 minutes and it had Union Berlin written all over it in the worst possible way. Rani Khedira turned the ball into his own net. That is what happens when you spend 90 minutes defending under pressure without the desire to clear your lines properly. You make mistakes. Freiburg had been the better side throughout the first half and they deserved to be ahead. The own goal was simply the consequence of sustained pressure.

The second arrived on 67 minutes. Yuito Suzuki finished from the right foot, assisted by Derry Scherhant. It was a goal that killed the game stone dead. Any lingering doubt about the outcome was gone. Union Berlin had nothing left to offer because, the thing is, they had offered very little to begin with.

Vincenzo Grifo came on as a substitute at 68 minutes and missed a penalty on 84 minutes. That is the only blemish on Freiburg's afternoon. When you are 2-0 up and you get a penalty, you put it away. No excuses. But it did not cost them. The result was already beyond question.

Freiburg Were Relentless

Look at the numbers and they tell you exactly what your eyes already told you. Freiburg had 20 shots to Union Berlin's four. Nine of Freiburg's efforts were on target. Union Berlin managed zero shots on target. Zero. Their goalkeeper made eight saves and still ended up on the losing side because Khedira put the ball in his own net. That tells you everything about how one-sided this match was.

Freiburg had 59 per cent possession and completed 465 passes at an accuracy of 87 per cent. Union Berlin sat at 75 per cent pass accuracy with 276 successful passes. The difference in attacking intent was staggering. Freiburg registered 129 attacks to Union Berlin's 60. Dangerous attacks: 70 for Freiburg, 32 for Union Berlin. These are not marginal differences. This was a mismatch.

Freiburg also created four big chances and missed three of them, including that Grifo penalty. That is the one area where they will be frustrated. When you create that many opportunities, you put the game to bed earlier. Accountability applies to that finishing as much as anything else. But on the evidence of the full 90 minutes, Freiburg were streets ahead.

Union Berlin Had No Answers

Listen, Union Berlin came into this match having drawn three of their previous five Bundesliga matches. They had scored one goal in each of their last two draws, against Köln and Augsburg, and had a 0-0 against Borussia Dortmund in that same window. They are a team that is grinding out results without producing anything of quality. That was visible again here.

Their worst result in that five-match sample was a 0-7 defeat to Bayern München. Some of that can be explained by the opponent. But the attitude and application here, against a Freiburg side that was beatable, was not good enough. They committed 17 fouls and had three players go offside on three separate occasions. That is a team lacking organisation and lacking sharpness. Zeno Van Den Bosch picked up a yellow card for a foul in the 19th minute. Woo-yeong Jeong followed with another booking in the 89th minute, by which point the match was long gone. That second yellow in the dying minutes tells you something about their mentality when results have already slipped away.

Their dribble numbers were an embarrassment. Three attempts, one successful. Freiburg attempted 20 dribbles and completed seven. Union Berlin could not get out from under Freiburg's pressure for large portions of this match, and when they did get the ball, they had no cutting edge. One big chance created. One big chance missed. That is the full extent of their attacking contribution.

Freiburg's Own Injury Problems Did Not Show

Freiburg came into this match carrying a significant injury list. Four players were sidelined with injuries ranging from minor to moderate severity. You would not have known it watching them perform. The shape was solid. The energy levels were high. The attitude was right. That is a credit to the players who were available and to the standards being set within the group.

Igor Matanovic picked up a yellow card in the second minute, which is not ideal, and was eventually substituted off at 68 minutes for Keisuke Goto. Yannik Engelhardt also received a booking on 27 minutes before being replaced by Patrick Osterhage on 75 minutes. Managing those two bookings through substitutions was sensible. No unnecessary risks taken late in a game that was already won.

The Bottom Line

Freiburg's recent Bundesliga form across five matches showed two wins, one draw and two losses. The two defeats came against Bayern München and Bayer Leverkusen. Losing to those two clubs is not a disgrace. Getting the job done against Union Berlin on Sunday absolutely was required. They delivered. Two goals, a clean sheet, and a performance that showed proper standards and proper desire from first minute to last.

Union Berlin, to be fair, did not compete. Their goalkeeper worked harder than anyone else on their team, made eight saves, and was let down by the ten men in front of him. That is unacceptable at any level of football. When a goalkeeper is your best performer by that margin, your outfield players need to look in the mirror.

Freiburg win 2-0. Deserved. Comfortable. No argument. End of.