freiburg win at liberec to leave group h wide open
published: thursday 28 november 2013, 21.27cet fc slovan liberec 1-2 sc freiburg
matthias ginter and francis coquelin scored as the german side claimed an edgy victory that takes them above their czech hosts.
goals from matthias ginter and francis coquelin earned sc freiburg a victory that leaves group h wide open going into matchday six.
ginter and coquelin struck in either half to reward an enterprising performance, though the visitors were hanging on at the end when fc slovan liberec's serhiy rybalka halved the deficit. the result means freiburg are masters of their own destiny on matchday six, needing only to match whatever liberec manage. the german side host qualified sevilla fc while liberec face eliminated estoril praia.
after a tense start, ginter scored from the first opening of the game on 23 minutes. goalkeeper přemysl kovář misjudged a sebastian kerk corner, and ginter, with his back to the goal, managed to curl the ball into the top corner, beyond the craning necks of two defenders. ıt sparked the home side into action but it was after the restart that the game really opened up.
michael rabušic hit the woodwork with nobody quick enough to convert the rebound. five minutes later, both rabušic and josef šural just failed to connect to a low centre from the right. freiburg went quiet, a mike hanke half-chance the only thing of note, and an equaliser seemed a matter of time. then the bundesliga outfit scored again.
christian günter brushed past three opponents on the left and his cross was met by coquelin's head to double freiburg's advantage. rybalka made it 2-1 nine minutes later, converting jiří pimparas' header across goal to set up a grand finale, but the visitors just about hung on. the job is not done yet, though.
