Frankfurt frustrated in Freiburg
Freiburg - SC Freiburg missed the chance to move up to fourth in the table after playing out an entertaining goalless draw with Eintracht Frankfurt.
One-sided
The Eagles had their chances in a thoroughly one-sided first half, but Freiburg responded after the break, with substitute Johannes Flum wasting a golden opportunity to take the spoils late on.
The game was only 12 minutes old when Freiburg's back line was breached, but Stefan Aigner began his run a fraction early and his goal ruled out for offside. Frankfurt's energetic and high-pressing game continued to cause problems for the hosts, who almost paid the price for another midfield mix-up as the lively Aigner broke clear and tickled the side netting.
The manner in which Frankfurt moved the ball forward was a joy to watch, while their adept organisation at the back afforded Freiburg scant opportunities to get anywhere near Kevin Trapp's goal. Frankfurt had been unable to capitalise on a dominant first-half showing, though, with head coach Armin Veh duly responding by throwing on Olivier Occean immediately after the restart.
Goal-line action
On paper, Eintracht now posed an even greater aerial threat, but in spite of some promising build-up play on the right-hand side involving Aigner and Sebastian Rode, the decisive pass was all too often lacking. And when the ball did find its way into the box courtesy of Bastian Oczipka, Freiburg goalkeeper Oliver Baumann gobbled up with ease.
Over 20 minutes had passed since Karim Guede registered a rare shot on the Frankfurt goal, but a flurry of goalmouth activity soon breathed life into an otherwise tepid affair in the 64th minute. Jan Rosenthal saw a downward header cleared off the line by Stefano Celozzi who, hugging the far post, repeated the trick to deny Matthias Ginter seconds later.
Must score
That seemed to give Freiburg the belief they could go on and win the game, and they went agonisingly close to doing so with 15 minutes left to play. Jonathan Schmid's slide-rule pass found Max Kruse, who shook off the attentions of Carlos Zambrano, before seeing his low drive come back off the onrushing, spread-eagle Trapp.
Christian Streich's men had their tails up, with Daniel Caligiuri showing great footwork to win Freiburg's fourth corner of the night in the 84th minute. Frankfurt only half cleared the ensuing flag kick and when the ball came back in from deep, Rosenthal found Flum, who passed up the most gilt-edged of chances, heading over with the goal at his mercy in a perhaps fitting end to the tie, which neither side really deserved to lose.
Line-ups and statistics
Christopher Mayer-Lodge
