10-man Freiburg edge Schalke late on to go top of Bundesliga standings

Freiburg came into this gameweek as one of only three remaining unbeaten sides in the Bundesliga, and the hosts got off to a perfect start here by taking the lead inside 10 minutes.

A sustained wave of pressure resulted in the opener when Matthias Ginter saw his header saved from Derry Scherhant’s corner kick, but Maximilian Eggestein was in the right place at the right time to prod home the rebound and his third goal of the league campaign.

With a fourth consecutive game unbeaten already hanging in the balance, the visitors grew into the contest and levelled the scoreline on the half-hour with a set-piece of their own.

The equaliser came in fortuitous circumstances after Mio Backhaus flapped at Robin Gosens’ corner-kick, and Kenan Karaman fired home the loose ball from just inside the box, ensuring the two sides went into the break on level terms after a largely even first half. 

The two sides struggled to get going at the start of the second half with proceedings finely balanced. Momentum swung in Schalke’s favour around the hour mark after Yuito Suzuki was shown a red card for the first time in his professional career for a second booking, much to the frustration of the Japanese international.

Yet, despite playing with a man advantage, Schalke failed to make it count and instead, Julian Schuster’s men clinched an unlikely victory in the 85th minute, when Keisuke Goto rose highest in the box to head home from Vincenzo Grifo’s floated cross into the box.

That winning goal lifted Freiburg back into top spot, level on points with Borussia Dortmund in what looks like being another positive campaign for the Breisgau-Brasilianer.

Muslic, meanwhile, will be left frustrated with his side’s performance after drawing level and failing to make their man advantage count, but also saw their three-game unbeaten streak come to an end. 

Flashscore Man of the Match: Maximilian Eggestein (Freiburg)

Check out the full match summary here.