Freiburg will head into the international break in third place in the Bundesliga after a 2-0 win over Union Berlin.
Freiburg 2-0 Union Berlin: Second-half goals send hosts third
Freiburg are back to within two points of the Bundesliga leaders after they dispatched struggling Union Berlin 2-0 on Sunday.
Julian Schuster's team went into Sunday's contest at Europa-Park Stadion having seen both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund win, while RB Leipzig had moved above them.
But Freiburg moved back into third thanks to a pair of second-half goals.
The first came about in fortunate fashion in the 55th minute.
Union goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow frustrated Freiburg before the break, but he could do nothing when Rani Khedira inadvertently turned into his own net from Niklas Beste's cross.
Freiburg doubled up 12 minutes later. Derry Scherhant drove through midfield and laid it off for Yuito Suzuki, who rounded Ronnow before drilling home.
Substitute Vincenzo Grifo missed a chance to add further gloss when he saw a spot-kick saved by Ronnow, while Union also managed to scramble an effort off the line, but they never looked capable of mounting a comeback.
Toothless Union pay the price
While Freiburg are dreaming of a potential title challenge, given they are just two points behind Bayern and Dortmund, Union's prospects are rather more bleak.
They are down in the danger zone and have already conceded 21 goals in their nine Bundesliga matches this season, their highest total at this stage of a top-flight campaign; only bottom-placed Borussia Monchengladbach have conceded more in the league (25).
Union offered no threat, having just four shots and failing to get any of them on target. Their chances were worth a combined 0.35 expected goals, while Freiburg posted 2.28 xG.
Freiburg have 19 points after nine matches, their joint-best start to a Bundesliga season in their club history, matching their tally at this stage in 2021-22.
Scherhant was a driving force, and he has been directly involved in nine goals in 14 appearances in all competitions this season, surpassing his total of eight goal involvements (seven goals, one assist) from 49 appearances last season.
Suzuki, meanwhile, has netted five league goals this term, already surpassing the four he managed in 2025-26.
