Freiburg and Bayer Leverkusen play out six-goal thriller
Freiburg defender Matthias Ginter scored a late equaliser against Bayer Leverkusen, who themselves had come from behind twice to lead in an absorbing encounter at the Europa-Park Stadion.
Freiburg 3-3 Bayer Leverkusen
Goals: 1-0 Grifo 34’ (assist: Günter), 1-1 Kofane 37’ (assist: Terrier), 2-1 Suzuki 43’ (assist: Treu), 2-2 Grimaldo 45’+3, 2-3 Terrier 52’ (assist: Kofane), 3-3 Ginter 86’ (assist: Scherhant)
Two teams with European aspirations met at the Europa-Park Stadion, where hosts Freiburg came in unbeaten in 15 home matches across all competitions since their opening day defeat to Augsburg.
Julian Schuster's side were looking to bounce back from their 2-0 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt, while Kasper Hjulmand's Leverkusen arrived unbeaten in their last six against Freiburg.
With Bayer having crucial UEFA Champions League and Bundesliga matches against Arsenal and Bayern Munich on the horizon, both sides knew the importance of points in their quest for continental qualification.
First-half fireworks
Leverkusen started brightly, with Christian Kofane heading over and Martin Terrier firing narrowly wide inside the opening five minutes. Freiburg responded well, but Niklas Beste couldn't direct his effort on target from Yuito Suzuki's cutback.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 34th minute when Vincenzo Grifo bundled home from Christian Günter's cross, equalling Nils Petersen's club record of 105 goals for Freiburg. The lead lasted just three minutes as Kofane latched onto Terrier's pass to fire clinically into the bottom corner.
The hosts regained their advantage when Suzuki finished smartly after brilliant interplay involving Beste, Philipp Treu and Igor Matanović. However, Alejandro Grimaldo ensured parity at the break with a superb free-kick after Suzuki had handled on the edge of the area.
Dramatic finale
Soon after the restart, Leverkusen took the lead for the first time when Terrier coolly slotted past Noah Atubolu after excellent work from Kofane.
Leverkusen controlled proceedings thereafter, with Kofane heading straight at Atubolu when well placed to extend their advantage. Schuster reacted by introducing Derry Scherhant and Jordy Makengo for Grifo and Günter, but Leverkusen maintained their grip.
As the clock ticked down, Freiburg kept pushing and were rewarded in the 86th minute when Ginter powered home a header from Scherhant's pinpoint cross.
Ginter thought he'd won it late on, but his close-range finish was ruled out for offside as Freiburg stayed eighth and Bayer sixth.
Man of the Match: Alejandro Grimaldo
Grimaldo was at the heart of Leverkusen's best moments throughout the contest. His stunning free-kick on the stroke of half-time was the highlight of an all-action display that saw him involved in much of Bayer's build-up play.
Despite picking up a yellow card that rules him out of next week's clash with Bayern, the Spanish left-back's technical quality shone through as he completed 87% of his passes and provided a constant attacking outlet down the left flank.
The 26% of fan votes he received to be named Man of the Match was well deserved for a performance that embodied Leverkusen's attacking threat.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Freiburg 2.81 - Leverkusen 2.60
Fastest player: Christian Kofane (Leverkusen), 34.77 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 2-2 by Alejandro Grimaldo (Leverkusen), 13.12 percent
Most pressed player: Christian Kofane (Leverkusen), 20 times under pressure
Pass efficiency: Aleix García (Leverkusen), +5.45
Fantasy Heroes: Christian Kofane (Leverkusen, 343 Points), Matthias Ginter (Freiburg, 260 Points), Martin Terrier (Leverkusen, 267 Points)
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