Nils Petersen scores two as Freiburg run riot over Augsburg

Goals: 1-0 Petersen (9’), 2-0 Grifo (30’), 3-0 Petersen (43’), 3-1 Khedira (52’), 4-1 Waldschmidt (64’), 5-1 Niederlechner (85’)
Red cards: Oxford (90+1)

Freiburg’s quest for a first victory of the year got off to a good start when Petersen opened the scoring within 10 minutes with goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow awarded a rare assist. Rani Khedira looked likely to control the ball as it dropped from the keeper’s long kick, but the Augsburg man mistimed his touch and the ball fell to the striker lurking inside the box, and he made no mistake with the finish. Augsburg threatened to level the scores on a couple of occasions, but the second goal would belong to the hosts as well. Augsburg conceded a free kick just outside their area - Grifo stepped up and put a beautiful curling shot over the wall and into the top right corner. The two goalscorers would then combine just before half time to give Freiburg a 3-0 advantage heading into the break. This time from a corner, Grifo once again wrapped his boot around the ball and placed it perfectly into the centre of the box where Petersen rose above the defenders to head home his second of the day.

At the start of the second half, Augsburg coach Manuel Baum replaced captain Daniel Baier, who was on a yellow card, with Kevin Danso in a bid to change his side’s fortunes. The deficit was soon reduced to two goals when Khedira atoned for his earlier error by placing the ball low past Schwolow and in off the post. Freiburg’s three-goal cushion would be restored just past the hour mark by Gian-Luca Waldschmidt, however. The Black Forest side worked the ball well around the Augsburg area until Janik Haberer found Waldschmidt open on the right, the 22-year-old took one touch to set himself before powering home his seventh goal of the season. Waldschmidt would later be replaced by Florian Niederlechner and the substitute wasted no time in getting his name on the scoresheet and scoring his side’s fifth of the afternoon. Petersen came close to completing his hat-trick, but put his shot just the wrong side of the post. Augsburg finished the match with ten men after Reece Oxford saw red for a poorly timed challenge in the final minutes.

• The last time Freiburg scored five goals in a Bundesliga match was in September 2012 against Hoffenheim.
• Petersen’s two goals mean that he has scored one more goal (four) in the Rückrunde than he did in the whole of the first half of the season.
• This was also Petersen’s first brace of the season. The last time he scored more than once in a match was in April 2018 against Cologne.
• Grifo’s goal was his first from a free-kick after 36th attempt. The goal took Freiburg’s tally for the season to 31, their best goal haul after 23 match days since the 20110/2011 season.
• Substitute Niederlechner’s goal was his third of the Rückrunde; all three have been scored from off the bench.
• Khedira is now Augsburg’s second top goalscorer along with Gregoritsch on three goals, behind Alfred Finnbogason (10).

Watch: Nils Petersen reflects on "a great day" for Freiburg fans

Freiburg: Schwolow – Kübler, Lienhart, Heintz, Okoroji (Stenzel 86’) – Haberer, Frantz (c) (Gondorf 86’), Abrashi, Grifo – Petersen, Waldschmidt (Niederlechner 81’)
Unused subs: Flekken, Höler, Terrazzino, Schlotterbeck
Out: Gulde (hamstring), Günter (suspended), Höfler (knee), Kath (groin), Kleindienst (knee), Koch (knee), Sallai (groin)
Coach: Christian Streich

Augsburg: Kobel – Schmid, Khedira, Oxford, Stafylidis – Koo, Baier (c) (Danso 46’) – Ji, Gregoritsch, Max (Jensen 73’) – Cordova
Unused subs: Giefer, Götze, Stanic, Callsen-Bracker, Teigl,
Out: Framberger (knee), Gouweleeuw (groin), Hahn (calf), Moravek (adductor), Schieber (muscular), Finnbogason (calf)
Coach: Manuel Baum