Supersub Chaïbi sends Frankfurt above Freiburg
| Hard-fought battle in Frankfurt | Simon Hofmann/Getty Images |
Albert Riera makes four changes after his first defeat in last week's visit to champions-elect Bayern Munich. Arnaud Kalimuendo and Jonathan Burkardt were back in the starting lineup as they returned to full fitness, while the suspended Jan-Niklas Beste caused the only change by Julian Schuster as Lukas Höler came in his place.
However, Riera was forced to make another change following an injury to Kaua Santos when he tried to block Igor Matanovic in the first action of the game. Michael Zetterer replaced the Brazilian custodian for his first appearance in 2026.
At the other end, Noah Atubolu makes a superb double save from Nathaniel Brown and Burkardt in the 25th minute. The German international was also alert to keep out Kalimuendo after the January signing easily dribbled past Christian Günter in the half-hour mark.
Freiburg started the game with the hope of closing the gap with sixth-placed Leverkusen to three points, but they had no attempt of any kind until the injury-time of the first-half. However, it was the best chance of the half as Matanovic was denied by the post from scoring yet another headed goal.
Zetterer, who was lucky enough with the rebound heading to his direction, made his first save early after the restart. The former Werder Bremen shot-stopper denied Vincenzo Grifo from ten meters. The game continued to lack chances until Riera's double swap bore fruit immediately.
In his first touches of the ball after coming on as a substitute, Farès Chaïbi scored with a brilliant finish following a quick one-two with Nnmadi Collins. The vastly experienced Matthias Ginter was at fault in giving away possession in a dangerous area of the pitch.
Fifteen minutes later, Chaïbi turned provider as Jean-Matteo Bahoya sealed the win with what looked like a cross. Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab and Kalimuendo had chances to score Frankfurt's third goal, but they lacked the finishing touch from promising positions. In the end, the two goals were enough for Frankfurt to replace Freiburg in the seventh place.
Freiburg will return to their home next weekend as they try to extend their unbeaten record at Europa-Park to 16 matches when they host Leverkusen. Frankfurt travel to the in-form St. Pauli on matchday 25.
