Werder Bremen have frequently started seasons slowly, and they struggled to get out of the blocks in the first half with the home side very much in the ascendancy.
The Breisgau-Brasilianer enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening 45 minutes, and after a relatively low-key start in terms of opportunities, they hit the front just before the half-hour mark when Yuito Suzuki made a clever run and showed real desire to get on the end of Jan-Niklas Beste’s corner, heading home at the far post.
Beste almost went from provider to scorer five minutes before HT when his effort from distance just cleared the crossbar, but the home side were celebrating their second goal in the final minute of normal time. A precise ball through a host of Bremen bodies found Igor Matanović in space, and the Croatian striker’s powerful effort 25 yards out flew past Karl Hein and into the net.
Having conceded just before the interval, the visitors knew they had an uphill task in the second half. And less than three minutes after the restart, they conceded for the third time when a ball across the area took a deflection and found its way through to Suzuki, who adjusted his feet in time to direct it into the net from close range, putting Freiburg in a commanding position.
The home side all but sealed victory less than 10 minutes later when they regained possession, and Suzuki laid the ball off to Matanović, who broke into the area and skipped past his man before unselfishly returning it for Suzuki to roll into an empty net.
Die Werderaner managed to pull a goal back late on when Dariusz Stalmach’s header from a corner found the net, but it couldn’t prevent them from a disappointing opening-day defeat. The Breisgau-Brasilianer are now winless in their last 12 Bundesliga openers, while a delighted Freiburg have now won six of their last eight top-flight curtain-raisers and will have realistic ambitions of another positive campaign.