Schmid's free-kick stunner sees Freiburg past Wolfsburg

Freiburg 1-0 Wolfsburg
Goals: 1-0 Schmid (85')

Having conceded seven goals between them last weekend – Freiburg went down 4-2 at Borussia Mönchengladbach, while Wolfsburg lost 3-2 at home to Werder Bremen – the two sides were mainly concerned with keeping things tight at the back during a closed first half at the Schwarzwald-Stadion. Wolves winger Joao Victor blasted well over from distance before Freiburg captain Christian Günter fired just wide of the mark and Schmid's free-kick effort was gathered by visiting keeper Koen Casteels. Wolfsburg's seven-goal top scorer Wout Weghorst had a couple of half-chances from two neat Admir Mehmedi deliveries, but failed to find the target, and Jerome Roussillon cut out a decent Freiburg counter-attack as the two teams cancelled each other out before the interval.

The game continued in a similar vein after the restart. Lucas Höler almost capitalised on a mistake from the Wolfsburg defence and saw his low shot held by Casteels, before Nicolas Höfler rifled over after some clever build-up play from the hosts. Josip Brekalo came off the bench and nearly teed up Weghorst, but the Dutchman was denied by some solid defending from Robin Koch. After a period of sustained Freiburg pressure, Weghorst had a glorious chance to put the Wolves ahead, but fluffed his lines at the back post instead of converting Roussillon's excellent cross. The game's only real moment of magic arrived on 85 minutes, as Schmid arrowed his brilliant free-kick in off the post, leaving Casteels absolutely no chance. Wolfsburg could still have returned home with a point, but William fired wide with the goal begging as Freiburg got the better of yet another European contender this season.

• Schmid scored his second direct free-kick of the week after netting one in the Gladbach defeat. No current Bundesliga player has scored more in their career (8).
• The Frenchman's winner was Freiburg's fifth goal from a set piece in their last five outings.
• Freiburg have now beaten RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt and Wolfsburg - three teams participating in Europe this season.
• No team have conceded fewer goals at home this season than Freiburg (six), who claimed their first home win over Wolfsburg in seven meetings.
• Mehmedi played for Freiburg between 2013 and 2015, making 60 Bundesliga appearances and scoring 16 goals.
• Klaus was on the Freiburg books between 2013 and 2015, playing 52 times in the Bundesliga and scoring seven goals.

Freiburg: Flekken – Gulde, Koch, Heintz – Schmid, Haberer, Höfler (Frantz 90'+3), Günter (c) – Sallai (Kwon 88'), Petersen, Höler (Schlotterbeck 90')
Unused subs: Thiede, Abrashi, Borrello, Itter, Jeong
Out: Grifo (suspended), Kübler (knee), Lienhart (shoulder), Tempelmann (knee), Waldschmidt (head, knee, ankle), Schwolow (muscular)
Coach: Christian Streich

Wolfsburg: Casteels – Tisserand, Bruma, Brooks – William, Guilavogui (c), Arnold (Schlager 83'), Roussillon – Victor (Klaus 75'), Mehmedi (Brekalo 60') – Weghorst
Unused subs: Pervan, Kasten, Gerhardt, Mbabu, Nmecha, Knoche
Out: Camacho (ankle), Malli (back)
Coach: Oliver Glasner