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bundesliga

Milos Pantovic hits another long-range stunner as Bochum down Freiburg

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Bochum came from behind to beat Freiburg 2-1 on Saturday, with Sebastian Polter bringing the hosts level before Milos Pantovic earned them the points with one of his speciality long-range winners.

Bochum 2-1 Freiburg
Goals: 0-1 Lienhart 51' (assist: Grifo), 1-1 Polter 54' (assist: Holtmann), 2-1 Pantovic (81')

Wooyeong Jeong and Kevin Schade - making only his third start in the Bundesliga, on his 20th birthday - were the first to test Manuel Riemann, who was being kept particularly busy in the Bochum goal. He had his defence to thank for blocking Lucas Höler's first shot before he recovered to turn away the rebound as Freiburg seemed certain to take the lead midway through the first half, although the offside flag was raised. Riemann then denied Schade from a tight angle before the woodwork came to Bochum's rescue, with Nico Schlotterbeck's effort striking the right-hand upright with Jeong unable to turn the rebound towards goal.

Freiburg were straight on the attack at the start of the second half also, forcing a corner within 10 seconds of the restart and signalling their intent to further their pursuit of the opening goal. They would not have to wait much longer before finding it. Vincenzo Grifo curled in a wicked free-kick from the right and Lienhart met it with his head from close range to leave Riemann no chance. Their lead did not last long, though, with Gerrit Holtmann threading the ball through a paper-thin gap in the Freiburg defence and Polter turning it through Mark Flekken's legs and in. Some more Riemann heroics denied Höler before a slip by Lienhart allowed substitute Pantovic to try his luck from near the halfway line. He somehow succeeded in lobbing Flekken to complete the turnaround. Freiburg hit the post deep into stoppage time, but Bochum held on for all three points.

Match stats

  • Streich sat in the Freiburg dugout for the 300th time in the Bundesliga.
  • Grifo has set up six goals from set-pieces this season - more than any other player in the Bundesliga.
  • Lienhart's three goals this season make him one of Freiburg's joint top-scorers along with Grifo, Höler and Jeong.
  • Pantovic scored his second goal from near the halfway line, having scored with a similar strike against Hoffenheim.
  • This fixture has averaged over three goals per game in the 14 top-flight meetings to date. It has never finished goalless.
  • Jeong is producing career-best numbers at Freiburg, with seven goals in 43 competitive appearances.

Line-ups

Bochum: Riemann - Stafylidis, Masovic, Lampropoulos, Soares - Löwen, Losilla (c), Rexhbecaj (Antwi-Adjei 85') - Asano (Leitsch 85'), Polter (Ganvoula 74'), Holtmann (Pantovic 65')
Unused subs: Esser, Gamboa, Bockhorn, Novothny, Bella Kotchap
Out: Decarli (shoulder), Osterhage (muscular), Zoller (knee)
Coach: Thomas Reis

Freiburg: Flekken - Kübler, Lienhart, N. Schlotterbeck, Günter (c) - Schade (Sallai 75'), Eggestein (Keitel 65'), Höfler, Grifo - Jeong (Demirovic 65'), Höler
Unused subs: Uphoff, Gulde, Haberer, Sildillia, K. Schlotterbeck, Burkart
Out: Petersen (knee), Schmid (match fitness)
Coach: Christian Streich