Having lost each of their opening three UEL matches this term, Nice were in desperate need of a win against a Freiburg outfit yet to lose in this year’s competition. And while Derry Scherhant had the game’s first shot on target, the hosts broke the deadlock midway through the half.
Kevin Carlos was the goalscorer, running on to Charles Vanhoutte’s through ball before firing past Noah Atubolu into the far corner for his second goal in the UEL.
The opener only seemed to wake Freiburg up, and from that point onwards they were in the ascendancy prior to the interval.
They drew level shortly before the half-hour mark when Yuito Suzuki pounced on Nice captain Melvin Bard’s loose touch before squaring to Johan Manzambi, who hammered into the corner for his first goal in European competition.
Overall, it was a half Bard will want to forget, as he soon presented the visitors with a fantastic opportunity to go ahead after felling Suzuki in the area.
From the resulting spot-kick, Vincenzo Grifo sent Yehvann Diouf the wrong way to complete the turnaround.
There was still time for a third Freiburg goal in a first half that was twice interrupted due to flat balls, too.
Scherhant was the scorer, netting via a Juma Bah deflection to give Julian Schuster’s men a two-goal lead at half-time.
Two sections of the stadium were empty following a pyrotechnics incident at Nice’s last UEL home match against Roma, and the Ligue 1 side certainly missed the extra support. Although they were more threatening after the interval, Salis Abdul Samed’s shot over the bar from a dangerous position inside the box was their only real chance of note initially after the restart.
Freiburg, on the other hand, looked to hit on the counter, and had they been slightly more precise in the final third, they would have had an even larger advantage to defend.
Nice continued to probe, but they were ultimately unable to make a dent in Freiburg’s lead. The result means that Schuster’s side will end the night in the top eight, and having already amassed 10 points, they have realistic hopes of qualifying directly for the last 16.
Nice, meanwhile, are already on the brink of elimination, and effectively have no other option but to win at Porto in their next UEL outing to keep their European journey this season alive.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Derry Scherhant (Freiburg)