Freiburg go top after thrashing 10-man Borussia Mönchengladbach
Freiburg beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 5-0 on Bundesliga Matchday 3, with Yannik Engelhardt and Igor Matanović both bagging braces to keep the Breisgau club unbeaten and move them top of the table.
Freiburg 5–0 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Goals: 1-0 Engelhardt 23‘ (assist: Scherhant), 2-0 Matanović 29‘ (assist: Ginter), 3-0 Matanović 77‘ (assist: Makengo), 4-0 Engelhardt 79‘ (assist: Ginter), 5-0 Eggestein 86‘
Red cards: Kleindienst 52‘
Freiburg went into this Matchday 3 fixture unbeaten across five competitive matches this season, having won their opening two Bundesliga games. Gladbach, by contrast, arrived without a point after two rounds.
Freiburg head coach Julian Schuster made no changes to his starting eleven following the win over Paderborn, while Eugen Polanski made three changes to his side, bringing in David Herold, Robin Hack and Kevin Stöger for Wael Mohya, Mathieu Nguefack and Lukas Ullrich.
Engelhardt breaks the deadlock
Gladbach started the brighter of the two sides, but Freiburg gradually took control. Derry Scherhant swung in a deep corner from the left that goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas failed to reach, leaving Engelhardt with a free header at the back post to nod Freiburg into a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute.
Six minutes later, Matthias Ginter slipped a pass into Matanović on the edge of the area, and the striker swept a first-time finish into the bottom corner to make it 2-0. Yuito Suzuki almost added a third before the break, but was denied by Nicolas after being played through by Mio Backhaus.
Kleindienst sees red, Freiburg pile on the goals
Freiburg carried their dominance into the second half, and the game turned in the 52nd minute when Tim Kleindienst, already booked, caught Philipp Lienhart late and was shown a second yellow card, leaving Gladbach with ten men.
The hosts made the most of their advantage: Matanović headed in from close range at the front post after a cross from Jordy Makengo to make it 3-0 in the 77th minute, and Engelhardt struck again two minutes later, rifling a shot from outside the box into the bottom corner off a Ginter pass for 4-0.
Maximilian Eggestein completed the scoring in the 86th minute, converting after Nicolas could only parry a low Makengo cross into his path.
Man of the Match: Yannik Engelhardt
Engelhardt scored twice, opening the account with a header from Scherhant's corner and doubling his tally with a fierce strike from distance after Ginter's pass. He also topped Freiburg's Fantasy rankings and led the home side's shot count with four attempts, underlining a dominant afternoon in midfield and attack.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Freiburg 2.51 - Mönchengladbach 0.33
Fastest player: Yuito Suzuki (Freiburg), 34.36 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 2-0 by Igor Matanović (Freiburg), 9 percent
Pass efficiency: Maximilian Eggestein (Freiburg), +3.61
Fantasy Heroes: Yannik Engelhardt (Freiburg, 451 Points), Igor Matanović (Freiburg, 337 Points), Jordy Makengo (Freiburg, 336 Points)
