Nils Petersen helped Freiburg confirm their status as the surprise package of the season so far as the Black Forest outfit beat Hoffenheim 3-0 on Sunday to move up to third in the Bundesliga standings.

Hoffenheim 0-3 Freiburg
Goals: 0-1 Günter (11'), 0-2 Haberer (38'), 0-3 Petersen (59')

After a cagey opening quarter of an hour, Freiburg took the lead through an unlikely source when left wing-back Christian Günter collected Dominque Heintz's threaded pass before holding off his marker and drilling the opener into the bottom corner. Pavel Kaderabek drew a smart reaction save from Alexander Schwolow as Hoffenheim gave an immediate response and there were soon chances at both ends. Petersen had a goal ruled out for offside, and Sebastian Rudy and Kaderabek both went close to leveling the score at the other end before Jannik Haberer doubled the visitors' lead, sweeping in from the edge of the area to give Freiburg a comfortable advantage at the break.

Hoffenheim coach Alfred Schreuder made a double change at half-time, bringing on Lukas Rupp and Jürgen Locadia in a bid to give his side greater stability, but it was Freiburg who struck again. Günter's teasing cross from the left was not dealt with by the home defence and the unmarked Petersen was allowed to pounce at the back post and essentially kill the game off as a contest. The hosts played with greater urgency as the match wore on as they looked to grab a consolation goal at the very least, but they lacked the necessary guile to unlock a well organised Freiburg backline, allowing Christian Streich's men to deservedly return home with all three points.

Match stats

• Günter scored his third Bundesliga goal in his 171st top-flight outing. His last strike came against Augsburg in December 2017. Never before had he provided a goal and an assist in a single game.
• Luca Waldschmidt was on the bench for the first time this season, having previously started every game.
• Freiburg have scored at least once in all 10 of their Bundesliga matches in Hoffenheim. They have only won once, though.
• Harberer scored with his first shot of the game. He has now equalled his goal tally from last season (one in 27 appearances).
• Freiburg have now scored 10 goals in their first four games of the season, a new club record.
• The Black Forest club’s previous win over Die Kraichgauer was back in October 2017.

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Line-ups

Hoffenheim: Baumann - Posch, Vogt (c), Bicakcic (Rupp 45') - Kaderabek, Rudy, Grillitsch (Locadia 45'), Stafylidis (Skov 70') - Geiger - Bebou, Belfodil
Unused subs: Pentke, Nordtveit, Baumgartner, Hübner, Adamyan, Akpoguma
Out: Kramaric (knee), Ochs (ankle), Samassekou (hamstring), Zuber (bruised foot)
Coach: Alfred Schreuder

Freiburg: Schwolow - Lienhart, Koch, Heintz - Schmid (Kübler 89'), Haberer (Waldschmidt 77'), Höfler, Günter - Höler, Petersen, Frantz (c) (Abrashi 68')
Unused subs: Thiede, Schlotterbeck, Gondorf, Borrello, Sallai, Kwon
Out: Flekken (ankle), Grifo (ineligible), Terrazzino (knee)
Coach: Christian Streich

About the clubs

TSG Hoffenheim

PreZero Arena

SC Freiburg

Europa-Park Stadion