Freiburg made light work of Bundesliga 2 promotion hopefuls Hamburg on Tuesday, running out 3-1 winners to book their place in the DFB Cup final.

Hamburg 1-3 Freiburg
Goals: 0-1 Petersen (11’), 0-2 Höfler (17’), 0-3 Grifo (pen. 35’), 1-3 Glatzel (88')

HSV began the match eager to go on the front foot and matters might have panned out differently had top scorer Robert Glatzel managed to place his header on target early on. Freiburg soon wrestled control of the game though, flexing their top-flight muscle in the 11th minute when Nils Petersen headed them in front from Nicolas Höfler’s cross. Höfler himself got his name on the scoresheet shortly afterwards as Freiburg pressed home their advantage, forcing the home side into a mistake that allowed the 32-year-old to smash in a deflected shot from the edge of the box. Vincenzo Grifo all but rubber-stamped the Black Forest club’s ticket to the final in Berlin with a penalty after Nico Schlotterbeck had been fouled inside the box. To their credit, Hamburg refused to give in and had an Anssi Suhonen goal disallowed for offside as they sought a way back into the game.

They carried that momentum into the second half too, harrying and pressing their visitors high up the pitch, albeit without seriously testing Mark Flekken between the posts. At the other end, Freiburg continued to serve reminders of why they’re pushing for UEFA Champions League qualification, at times seemingly slicing through the HSC rearguard at will, with Roland Sallai forcing a fierce angled drive into the side netting, and Petersen giving Heuer Fernandes a momentary scare with an attempted lob. Hamburg were eventually rewarded for their persistence in the closing stages with a consolation goal when Glatzel's expert header from a left-wing cross at least gave the home crowd something to cheer about, but the damage had already been long since done by then, allowing Freiburg to celebrate their place in next month's decider.

Match stats

• Freiburg have reached a major final for the first time in the club’s history.
• Their previous best run in the DFB Cup was in the 2012/13 campaign, when they were knocked out by VfB Stuttgart in the semi-finals.
• Grifo has four DFB Cup goals this season, and is Freiburg’s 12-goal top scorer in all competitions. He also has seven assists.
• Petersen has scored 12 goals in 15 DFB Cup appearances for Freiburg.
• Höfler’s goal was his first ever in this competition. It was his third of the 2021/22 season overall.
• Three-time winners Hamburg have now lost their last five DFB Cup semi-finals.

Line-ups

Hamburg: Heuer Fernandes – Heyer, Vuskovic, Schonlau (c), Vagnoman (Alidou 82') –  Meffert, Reis (Kaufmann 69') – Jatta (Muheim 82'), Kittel, Suhonen (Chakvetadze 85') - Glatzel
Unused subs: Mickel, Gyamerah, Kinsombi, Wintzheimer, David
Out: Krahn (muscular), Leibold (knee), Rohr (muscular)
Coach: Tim Walter

Freiburg: Flekken - Schmid (Sildillia 90'+2), Lienhart, N. Schlotterbeck, Günter (c) - Eggestein, Höfler - Sallai (Höler 64'), Jeong (Haberer 79'), Grifo (Weißhaupt 79') - Petersen (Demirovic 64')
Unused subs: Uphoff, Siquet, K. Schlotterbeck, Wagner
Out: Gulde (ill), Keitel (broken toe), Kübler (unconfirmed), Schade (abdominals)
Coach: Christian Streich

As it happened!

Want more Bundesliga Action?

GET THE UPDATES!