Freiburg faced off Bayer Leverkusen in another bout of Bundesliga, with the latter side winning by one goal.
Bayer’s Kai Havertz became the first player in the history of the Bundesliga to score 35 goals before turning 21, and beat Freiburg in the process.
However, Bayer will wait breathlessly to hear the 20-year-old’s fitness news after being injured in the win.
As for the match, it was Leverkusen who started the first half brightest. They were looking for redemption after they snatched their 12-game unbeaten run from them in a 4-1 defeat at home to Wolfsburg in midweek.
Leverkusen’s attempts to stretch the game wide had been countered by the well-structured shape of Freiburg, keeping the game in the middle of the pitch, much to the frustration of Peter Bosz.
Indeed, in the opening 20 minutes, the home side had as much as 70 per cent of the ball but was unable to break through a compact Freiburg side set up by Streich to defend first, attack second.
Chances began to flow towards the end of the first period as Leon Bailey flirted for either side with the first shot on target of the game.
Lucas Höler also had the perfect opportunity to open the scoring on the other end. One-on-one with Lukas Hradecky, Höler went to the far bottom corner but curled his strike wide, leaving the game goalless at break time.
Leverkusen continued to dominate the ball into the second half and made the breakthrough with their first shot on target just after the hour-mark.
Kai Havertz flicked the ball to Bailey before continuing his run into the box where the Jamaican found him and finished under Alexander Schwolow, while holding off Dominique Heintz.
For Florian Wirtz, it was almost a first Leverkusen goal minutes later, but the 17-year-old’s goal-to-goal strike dropped.
After 66 minutes, though, there were worried faces across the Leverkusen bench as Havertz pulled up with injury, and had to be replaced. In the final minutes, Nils Petersen had one of several chances of equalling, but Hradecky made a great save to deny him.
The away side held on and took all three points in the table above RB Leipzig to move provisionally third.
Freiburg 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen:
Goals: 0-1 Havertz (61′)
Line-ups
Freiburg: Schwolow – Kübler (Gulde 66′), Lienhart, Heintz, Günter (c) – Sallai (Schmid 66′), Koch (Frantz 75′), Höfler, Grifo (Kwon 75′) – Höler (Waldschmidt 75′), Petersen
Unused subs: Flekken, Schlotterbeck, Abrashi, Tempelmann
Out: Haberer (ankle), Ravet (muscular)
Coach: Christian Streich
Leverkusen: Hradecky – Tah, S. Bender, Dragovic – Amiri, Aranguiz, Baumgartlinger, Sinkgraven (Alario 62′) – Wirtz (Paulinho 85′), Havertz (c) (Diaby 66′), Bailey (Tapsoba 85′)
Unused subs: Özcan, Demirbay, Palacios, Bellarabi, Volland
Out: L. Bender (foot)
Coach: Peter Bosz
