Luka Vušković and Fabio Baldé fire Hamburg to a thrilling 3-2 victory over Freiburg
Hamburg beat Freiburg 3-2 on Matchday 33, celebrating their final home game of the 2025/26 season in style with a result that means Freiburg's fight for seventh place will go right down to the wire.
Hamburg 3–2 Freiburg
Goals: 1-0 Jatta 14‘ (assist: Grønbæk), 1-1 Matanović 16‘ (assist: Kübler), 2-1 Vušković 64‘, 3-1 Baldé 67‘ (assist: Remberg), 3-2 Matanović 87‘ (assist: Grifo)
Hamburg welcomed Freiburg to the Volksparkstadion on Matchday 33 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season having already secured their top-flight status. For Freiburg, fresh from reaching the UEFA Europa League final just days earlier, a win would have secured seventh place and European football for next season.
HSV made two changes from their win in Frankfurt, with Luka Vušković and Otto Stange coming in, with the latter making his first Bundesliga start for the club. Freiburg were without Patrick Osterhage and Yuito Suzuki through injury.
Jatta opens the scoring
Freiburg started brightly, with Niklas Beste delivering a series of crosses into the Hamburg box in the opening minutes, with Vušković repeatedly heading clear.
The hosts then grew into the game and took the lead on 14 minutes. Stange's cross from the right was only partially cleared by Bruno Ogbus, the ball falling to Albert Grønbæk, who laid it across the six-yard box for Bakery Jatta to tap home at the far post.
Matanović levels immediately
The lead lasted barely two minutes. Lukas Kübler whipped in an inviting cross from the right, which Igor Matanović met first time, sweeping a volley through the legs of Daniel Heuer Fernandes to level the scores, and Fábio Vieira then struck the right-hand post with a fierce effort from distance in the 19th minute.
The first half remained end-to-end, with both sides creating chances but neither able to find a second goal before the break.
Vušković's free-kick puts HSV ahead
The second half began at a similar tempo. Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer went close with a curling effort that narrowly missed the far post in the 52nd minute.
The decisive moment arrived in the 64th minute when Vušković stepped up to take a free-kick just outside the box. He struck it low and hard, the ball deflecting off Maximilian Eggestein and into the bottom corner to give HSV the lead.
Baldé makes it three
Within minutes, HSV doubled their advantage. Substitute Fabio Baldé, who had come on for Jatta at the 65th-minute, raced onto a ball down the line from Nicolai Remberg, found himself one-on-one with Noah Atubolu and slotted his finish into the near bottom corner. It was Baldé's first Bundesliga goal.
Matanović pulls one back
Matanović gave the visitors hope in the 87th minute, heading home from a Vincenzo Grifo corner to make it 3-2. In a frantic finale, Vieira struck the post again in injury time and Nicolas Capaldo was booked, but Hamburg held on for a deserved victory.
Man of the Match: Luka Vušković
Vušković was voted Man of the Match with 67 percent of the vote. The defender was commanding throughout, heading clear numerous Freiburg crosses and providing a constant threat from set pieces.
His 64th-minute free-kick, which deflected in off Eggestein, proved the decisive goal and was his sixth of the season — making him the most prolific defender in the Bundesliga this campaign. He was also the top-ranked HSV player in the Fantasy standings.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Hamburg 1.71 - Freiburg 0.58
Fastest player: Fabio Baldé (Hamburg), 35.74 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 2-1 by Luka Vušković (Hamburg), 4 percent
Most pressed player: Otto Stange (Hamburg), 12 times under pressure
Pass efficiency: Matthias Ginter (Freiburg), +4.06
Fantasy Heroes: Igor Matanović (Freiburg, 350 Points), Luka Vušković (Hamburg, 268 Points), Nicolai Remberg (Hamburg, 226 Points)
