Thanks to a very strong second half, Fortuna has earned their third victory of the season in the Bundesliga. In front of 39,301 spectators, the final score against SC Freiburg is 2:0 (0:0). Coach Friedhelm Funkel's eleven climbed from last place to 16th place. The celebrated hero was Kaan Ayhan, who returned and scored both goals.

Coach Funkel changed his line-up compared to 1:3 in Bremen to a total of four positions. Captain Oliver Fink, Robin Bormuth, Jean Zimmer and Dodi Lukebakio were on the bench. But defensive boss Kaan Ayhan returned after missing four games, first for tactical reasons and then due to a toe injury. In Benito Raman, Rouwen Hennings and Kenan Karaman, Funkel brought a lot of offensive power to the pitch. The latter made his league debut in the red and white dress. The Turkish national striker then fired his first shot at Freiburg's goal after just over a quarter of an hour. But the ball rolled into the arms of goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow.

At this point, the Düsseldorf team could already have led if either referee Harm Osmers or video assistant Günter Perl had decided on the penalty after six minutes. Why the whistle failed to blow remains questionable. In Kevin Stöger's free kick, Freiburg captain Mike Frantz took out his arm in the wall while jumping up and stopped the ball. In a similar situation against Wolfsburg, Fortuna had recently been given a penalty kick.

The missing penalty whistle was the only real excitement in the first half, which had little or nothing to do with beautiful Bundesliga football. Fortuna was the optically superior of two bad teams, but had few ideas to convert the possession of the ball into goals. Whenever it looked as if it could become dangerous, a Fortune made the wrong decision. Especially the conspicuously acting Raman broke his engagement so badly.

After the break, however, the action on the grass became much more lively and Fortuna helped something that hadn't played a role at all this season: a corner. Takashi Usami brought the ball from the right into the penalty area, fitting on the head of Ayhan, who was the highest in the air and headed the ball untenably for Schwolow to 1-0 (55th). Inspired by this leading goal, Hennings took a heart just two minutes later and cut the ball in an exemplary manner from the right to the angle. But the ball only touched the outer post.

Shortly afterwards, Takashi Usami could have ensured that the last half hour would have been calmer for all those holding Fortuna. But the Japanese shot the ball free-standing from six metres over the goal (61st). It got really hectic when referee Osmers again made no effort to blow his whistle. This time Raman had gone down in a duel with Lukas Kübler on the edge of the penalty area. In this phase Fortuna had to put up with the accusation of not having missed the K.O. shot earlier to the Freiburgers acting without any plan.

The game had now taken on an offensive dynamic that had not been expected from them in the first half. Usami could have sent Freiburg home on their own, but the Japanese was apparently the only one to play the preparatory role on that day. Marcin Kaminski headed his corner to the centre, where Ayhan extended the ball by foot into the goal (79th). The 2:0 finally eliminated any doubts about the end of the match. The substitute Lukebakio missed in injury time still the coronation with the sovereign success.