Freiburg scores 6 goals in first half to destroy Gladbach

Updated Dec. 5, 2021 2:31 p.m. ET

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BERLIN (AP) — Freiburg produced a devastating first-half performance to rout Borussia Mönchengladbach 6-0 away on Sunday for its biggest-ever win in the Bundesliga.

There were six different scorers as everything worked in the first 45 minutes for Freiburg, which ended a three-game losing run in style to move back up to fourth.

Freiburg hadn’t beaten Gladbach away in the Bundesliga in 17 attempts since its solitary 2-1 win in 1995, and faced a tough prospect with Gladbach hoping to atone for its 4-1 loss at Cologne in the Rhine derby last weekend.

But Freiburg paid no heed to the statistics as Maximilian Eggestein opened the scoring in the second minute, Kevin Schade added another goal two minutes later and Philipp Lienhart made it 3-0 in the 12th.

Nicolas Höfler got the fourth goal in the 19th, six minutes before setting up Lucas Höler for the fifth.

It was the first time since Gladbach trounced Eintracht Braunschweig 10-0 in 1984 that any team racked up five goals in the opening 25 minutes. No team had ever done it away from home before.

Gladbach coach Adi Hütter reacted with two substitutions around the half-hour mark, but it did little to change his team’s fortunes.

Freiburg goalkeeper Mark Flekken snuffed out any danger from Marcus Thuram and Dennis Zakaria before Vincenzo Grifo set up Nico Schlotterbeck for the sixth goal in the 37th.

Hütter looked stunned on the sideline, while Gladbach’s sporting director Max Eberl sat with his head bowed, staring at the ground.

Freiburg coach Christian Streich consoled Gladbach substitute Breel Embolo at halftime. Embolo made way for Lars Stindl for the last 20 minutes but there was no way back for Gladbach.

HERTHA HOPE

Hertha Berlin’s gamble on a new coach showed some promising signs earlier Sunday as the team fought back to earn a 2-2 draw at Stuttgart in the Bundesliga in Tayfun Korkut’s debut in charge.

Stevan Jovetic scored twice for the visitors to claim a point and stay just ahead of 15th-place Stuttgart in the table. Hertha also managed to withstand a late spell of pressure without conceding in contrast to previous games against Augsburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Freiburg.

Korkut was back at his hometown club after his surprise appointment as Hertha coach on Monday following Pál Dárdai’s dismissal. Korkut hadn’t coached any team since a largely unsuccessful stint in charge of Stuttgart in 2018.

His new side got off to a bad start with Omar Marmoush scoring on a counterattack in the 15th minute and Philipp Förster grabbing another for Stuttgart four minutes later.

Marmoush might have had another a short time later but Hertha goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow saved his effort.

Ishak Belfodil pulled one back in the 34th, but the goal was ruled out through VAR when Vladimir Darida was adjudged to have blocked the goalkeeper’s view from an offside position.

Hertha persevered and duly scored through Jovetic in the 40th.

Marmoush thought he’d scored a second in the 66th, only to see a linesman’s flag raised for offside. A VAR check confirmed the call.

Korkut brought on experienced defender Niklas Stark and veteran forward Prince Boateng in the 72nd as the home team appeared to be tiring.

Jovetic equalized in the 76th and this time Hertha managed to hold on.

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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Ciarán Fahey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cfaheyAP

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Philipp Lienhart

Alexander Schwolow

Nico Schlotterbeck

Vladimir Darida

Mark Flekken

Niklas Stark

SC Freiburg

VfB Stuttgart