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Empty-handed against Freiburg
Personnel & tactics:
Head coach Sebastian Hoeness made three changes to his starting line-up from the unfortunate cup defeat against Greuther Fürth. Kasim Adams, Diadie Samassékou and Ishak Belfodil all moved into the starting XI. The four-man defensive line in front of goalkeeper Oliver Baumann was made up of Adams, Kevin Akpoguma, Kevin Vogt and Ryan Sessegnon. Samassékou lined up alongside Sebastian Rudy in defensive midfield. Ihlas Bebou, Andrej Kramarić and Christoph Baumgartner formed an attacking-midfield trio behind Belfodil at centre-forward.
TSG were forced into their first change in the 12th minute: Rudy went down injured in the sequence of play leading to the opening goal, Melayro Bogarde came on to replace him. Just five minutes later, TSG again had to make an injury-enforced substitution: Akpoguma was unable to carry on, with Robert Skov coming on in his place. Bogarde shifted over to right-back, with Baumgartner moving over to defensive midfield and Skov slotting in on the left-wing. Hoeness opted for a double substitution in the 76th minute: on came Sargis Adamyan and Munas Dabbur to help with the attempted comeback, off came Samassékou and Belfodil.
Moment of the match:
Freiburg's third goal. What happened in the 42nd minute symbolised what was a rotten day for TSG: Demirovic's delivery from the right posed no threat, but the unfortunate Adams deflected the ball into his own net.
Number of the game: 300
The 3-1 loss to SC Freiburg was Sebastian Rudy's 300th career appearance in the Bundesliga. 237 of them have come in a TSG Hoffenheim jersey. It proved a milestone to forget for the TSG record breaker: the 30-year-old suffered an injury in the build-up to the opening goal and had to be withdrawn from the field of play.
Line-ups:
TSG Hoffenheim: Baumann – Akpoguma (17, Skov), Adams, Vogt, Sessegnon – Rudy (12, Bogarde), Samassékou (76, Adamyan) – Bebou, Kramarić, Baumgartner – Belfodil (76, Dabbur)
SC Freiburg: Müller – Lienhart, Schlotterbeck, Gulde – Schmid (46, Kübler), Santamaria (85, Abrashi), Höfler, Günter – Kwon (65, Petersen), Grifo (80, Sallai) – Demirovic (65, Höler)
Goals: 0-1 Santamaria (7), 0-2 Grifo (34, penalty after handball), 0-3 Adams (42, own goal), 1-3 Bebou (58)
Match highlights
Günter gets the better of Akpoguma on the right wing before sending in a cross, which is deflected towards Santamaria at the back post. The Freiburg man makes no mistake and smashes the ball in off the underside of the bar.
Höfler nods on a corner delivery. The ball strikes Bogarde's hand, resulting in a penalty. Grifo leaves Baumann with no chance to fire Freiburg into a 2-0 lead.
Demirovic is played clear on the right-hand side and makes his way into the box. His ball across goal looks harmless enough, but Adams sticks out a foot and scores a needless own goal.
Hoffenheim's biggest chance of the match so far: Bogarde steels himself and unleashes a shot from distance. It's a real test for Müller, who manages to reach out and make the save.
Baumgartner shows his strength and wins the ball in midfield. Belfodil plays it on to Bebou, who keeps his calm in front of Müller and drills the ball into the roof of the net.
Still everything to play for here: Müller misjudges a Skov corner and Kramarić has a free header at the back post. He can only find the side netting from a tight angle. So close to 3-2.
Skov tries his luck from a free-kick, but Müller is able to make the save. Another near miss for TSG.
The ball finds its way to Baumgartner, who makes his way to the byline and squares it across goal. All it needs is a touch from Adamyan, but he fails to make a connection.
Match facts and statistics »
