With these two European chasers separated by just two points ahead of kick-off, it perhaps wasn’t surprising to see the pair well matched in the opening stages. Gladbach shaded proceedings, and were rewarded with an opening goal inside 15 minutes, albeit in fortuitous circumstances.
The hosts turned the ball over and raced forward, releasing Franck Honorat down the right, whose cross was deflected into his own net by the luckless Christian Günter.
It was a goal symptomatic of a Freiburg side whose form has vanished in recent weeks, but far from feeling sorry for themselves, the visitors rallied to wipe out their deficit within just two minutes.
Their goal also came from a cross on the right wing, with Lukas Kübler’s looping delivery headed home at the back post by Patrick Osterhage, who finally opened his account for the club having arrived last summer.
Stalemate resumed from there with chances at either end, the best of which fell to Robin Hack, who rattled the post after picking Kübler’s pocket inside the area.
It was Julian Schuster’s men who appeared the more dangerous upon the restart, however, with impressive young Gladbach goalkeeper Tiago Pereira Cardoso called into action to deny Junior Adamu a first Bundesliga strike since September.
The 19-year-old was even more impressive in clawing Lucas Höler’s rebound off the line, producing one of the saves of the season to hook the ball clear of danger.
Freiburg had their hosts penned into their own third for much of the second half, and they finally got their reward in the 90th minute. Ritsu Dōan stood a cross up into the middle of the area, where Johan Manzambi was waiting to head home his first senior goal for the club and seal all three points.
Victory brings a timely end to their five-match winless run, while Gerardo Seoane’s men lose further ground in the tightly contested race for Europe.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ritsu Dōan (Freiburg)