SC Freiburg boosted their chances of qualifying for the league phase of the Europa Conference League with a 3-1 win away at Motherwell. The Breisgau outfit will hope to complete the job at home next week.
The hosts had a dream start as Grenada international Regan Charles-Cook got to the end of Emmanuel Longelo‘s cutback for his second goal of the European campaign. However, Freiburg were unfazed by going behind inside the first two minutes.
Julian Schuster’s side had the majority of possession in their search for an equalizing goal. Vincenzo Grifo was on the bench, but it did come from a set-piece opportunity. Derry Scherhant tried his luck with a well-taken free-kick minutes before his precise delivery for Matthias Ginter‘s strike.
The 2014 World Cup winner recently opened up about the disappointment of not making Julian Nagelsmann’s squad for this summer’s tournament, but he started the 2026/27 season on the right track as the goal stood after a lengthy VAR check.
His night got even better at the hour mark as he scored his first-ever professional penalty-kick to put the Germans in front. There was also another long wait for a VAR decision as Martin Moormann was sent off for pulling down Freiburg’s debutant Yannick Engelhardt inside the box.
Yuito Suzuki, who missed the Europa League final defeat to Aston Villa due to an injury, produced a big performance as his incisive passing created the opening for Engelhardt. The 32-year-old completed his maiden brace, despite Alex Paulsen diving in the right direction.
The New Zealand international was the busiest goalkeeper for the rest of the game as Motherwell struggled to get out of their half with ten players. On his debut, Mio Backhaus only faced one shot on target, which resulted in the early goal.
At the other end, Freiburg extended their lead with the last kick of the game. Japanese youngster Keisuke Goto scored on his debut with a free header from a corner-kick taken by fellow substitute Grifo.
Freiburg will face Fortuna Düsseldorf on Sunday in the first round of the DFB-Pokal, while Motherwell’s next game is the return leg next Thursday.
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