Borussia Mönchengladbach has missed the hoped-for victory at SC Freiburg and thus important points for the qualification for the Champions League. A striker who is known for his qualities as a joker became the match winner.
Freiburg (dpa) - Unlike the Gladbach professionals, Nils Petersen smiled. The start of the 30th match day in the Bundesliga had started for the former SC Freiburg striker on the substitute bench.
But then the striker once again demonstrated his qualities as a substitute and shocked Borussia Mönchengladbach's team with his goal to 1-0 (0-0) of Baden. "This is another Friday evening that is the most fun," summarized Petersen: "Escape light, only the spectators were missing. These are the evenings that you want as a striker."
For striker Luca Waldschmidt, Petersen had to clear his place in the starting eleven this time. When he came on as a substitute in the second half (57th minute), he was immediately there with his first action. After a free kick, the record joker of the Bundesliga hit the header in the 58th minute. "It was a great feeling, you need an action. If I hadn't had it, it means that the substitution was wasted," Petersen described.
Thanks to the 31-year-old, SC Freiburg gave the Gladbachers a setback in the tight race for the coveted qualification for the Champions League. The eighth of the table from Breisgau now has chances of winning the Europa League with 41 points.
"Now we are safe from relegation and it is now a question of squinting upwards, why not," said the scorer. Freiburg had previously won none of the four games after the Corona virus interruption and came to victory against Gladbacher, who dominated in the first half, thanks to the will and passion as well as the strength in standard situations.
"You can always rely on the Nils," praised Streich: "He is simply a leader, he is a role model for all young players and only through the way did he become a national player." His colleague Marco Rose from Gladbach, however, struggled: "Then we will get an unnecessary standard. It is unnecessary and we defend it very inattentively."
The Gladbachers not only missed three important points in the season's final sprint, but also lost striker Alassane Plea due to a yellow-red card (68.). The Frenchman will be missing in the upcoming away game at the near-champions FC Bayern Munich. Following the dismissal, sports director Max Eberl saw the red card and had to leave the substitute bench.