Freiburg's patience rewarded with a clear win over Union Berlin

Freiburg head coach Julian Schuster stressed that his side had to remain patient right until the end to find the goals their performance against Union Berlin deserved.

Freiburg beat Union Berlin 2-0 at the Europa-Park Stadion to extend their winning run in all competitions to four matches.

The hosts had to wait until the 55th minute to break the deadlock. From a Niklas Beste cross, Union Berlin captain Rani Khedira wrong-footed his own goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow and turned the ball into his own net to put Freiburg 1-0 up.

Yuito Suzuki doubled the lead 12 minutes later. In the closing stages, Vincenzo Grifo's penalty was saved by the goalkeeper, and Freiburg missed the chance to add further gloss to the scoreline.

With 19 points after nine matches, Freiburg have matched their 2021-22 achievement, making one of the best Bundesliga starts in the club's history. The result means they head into the international break just two points behind leaders Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

Schuster, whose side struggled to break down their opponents in the first half, was particularly pleased with his team's discipline in maintaining the pressure. He also praised a defensive display that restricted Union Berlin to just four shots and gave them no route to goal:

"We had to be very patient and we never lost our confidence at any point. We may not have created a great many chances, but we hardly gave our opponents any either."

The win also brought to an end Freiburg's seven-match winless run against Union Berlin in all competitions.

Derry Scherhant, who played an important role in the game, has now been directly involved in 9 goals in 14 matches in all competitions this season, already surpassing his numbers from last season. Suzuki, meanwhile, kept up his form by scoring his fifth goal in his eighth Bundesliga match of the season.

Maximilian Eggestein, whose Freiburg side face Elversberg after the international break, said the mood in the squad was high. "It's a great feeling to go into the international break with a win. We knew Union Berlin would play exactly as we expected, and we stuck to our plan," Eggestein said.