Efficient Freiburg extend European run in Nice | OneFootball

Freiburg were looking to extend their unbeaten run in this season's Europa League to four matches, against a Nice side that had not won in the Europa League since October 2020.

And after an opening period with no real fluency, it would be the hosts who took the lead with the first meaningful effort in the 25th minute, as Kevin Carlos was slipped through on goal by Charles Vanhoutte following a slick move. The striker raced through on goal before firing past Noah Atubolu. 

Nice's lead, though, would last just over three minutes, when Melvin Bard gifted the ball to Yuito Suzuki, who found the exciting Johan Manzambi in the box. The young Swiss midfielder was allowed time to set himself before emphatically hammering home, with the ball taking a slight deflection.

With the match back in the balance, Freiburg went on to take the lead 10 minutes later. Bard, who was at the scene of the incident once again, clumsily sent Suzuki tumbling inside the box, giving referee Anastasios Sidiropoulos no choice but to award a penalty, which Vincenzo Grifo buried with ease - sending Yehvann Diouf the wrong way.

And the visitors would add a third just five minutes later. Denny Scherhant, who had been so lively throughout the half, found himself with space on the edge of the box following a beautiful Matthias Ginter layoff, before his low effort proved too powerful for Diouf, with the ball cannoning off the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

As Nice searched for a goal back in the second half, Jeremie Boga saw an effort blocked by Lukas Kübler and Phillip Lienhart inside the box, before a flurry of efforts flew towards Atubolu's goal; however, the scores remained level as Salis Abdul Samed sent an effort flying over the bar on the half-volley.

The match began to follow a similar script to that of the opening stages, though this time, Freiburg carried a lead.

Nice, unable to create anything of note, limped to another defeat in the Europa League, stretching their record to 13 losses and three draws in their last 16. While Freiburg secured their third win of the campaign, leaving them with 10 points out of a possible 12.