Berlin edge Freiburg, Leipzig hold Hoffenheim in German Bundesliga
Xinhua, August 29, 2016 Adjust font size:
Julian Schieber's late goal secured Berlin a 2-1 win over Freiburg and Leipzig held Hoffenheim to a two-all draw by courtesy of Marcel Sabitzer's equalizer in German Bundesliga on Sunday.
Hertha Berlin wrapped up a successful start into the new season as Pal Dardai's men responded to Freiburg's late leveler through substitute Schieber.
Newly promoted Freiburg staged a well-positioned defence and kept the "Herthaner" on the distance in the first half.
After the restart, Berlin piled the pressure as Vladimir Darida came close in the 54th minute but pulled over the bar from promising position. The hosts' efforts were rewarded eight minutes later when Genki Haraguchi and Vedad Ibisevic teed up for Darida, who drilled the ball low into the bottom right corner.
Freiburg responded well and worked out good opportunities through Vincenzo Grifo and Maximilian Philipp, but both players failed to restore parity.
Berlin tried to protect their lead until the final whistle but Freiburg punished the hosts as Grifo's cross found Nicolas Hoefler, who headed home the equalizer in the dying minutes of the game.
The hosts remained unimpressed and grabbed the late winner thanks to Schieber, who capitalized on Freiburg's poor clearance following corner to make it 2-1 on the scoreboards.
"I was annoyed by the late equalizer. We should have scored the second goal earlier. However, after the late winner I was very happy," Berlin coach Dardai said.
"We are of course disappointed. We have to improve our performance to win games," Freiburg coach Christian Streich said.
Elsewhere, newly promoted Leipzig came back twice to snatch a 2-2 draw at Hoffenheim. Lukas Rupp broke the deadlock for the hosts in 55th minute before Leipzig's Dominik Kaiser marked the 1-1 draw only three minutes later.
Mark Uth provided Hoffenheim the 2-1 lead in the 83rd minute but Leipzig responded again and reaped one point thanks to Marcel Sabitzer's last gasp leveler. Endit