Goalkeeper crucial save gives Union Berlin win at Freiburg
Union Berlin’s stand-in goalkeeper Matheo Raab made a last-minute diving save with his injured right hand on his top-division debut to ensure his team held on for a 1-0 win at Freiburg in the Bundesliga.
Union had already used all its substitutions when Raab injured his hand in a collision with Freiburg’s Bruno Ogbu while diving to punch away a high ball in added time.
“In that moment I only felt pain,” Raab told broadcaster DAZN. “We couldn’t make any more changes and I wanted to somehow play out those last few minutes. There’s nothing you can do but grit your teeth, somehow get the glove back on and get this thing done.”
Raab used the same hand for an acrobatic diving save to keep out Niklas Beste’s curling shot and ensure Union took the win. Jeong Woo-yeong had put the Berlin team in the lead with a low shot earlier in added time.
An injury to regular starter Frederik Ronnow meant Raab was playing in the Bundesliga for the first time since arriving at Union in July. He said he powered through with adrenaline. “I waited so long for this and didn’t want it taken away.”
Union rose two places to ninth, one place behind Freiburg.
Also Sunday, Deniz Undav scored for the fifth Bundesliga game in a row as a goalkeeping blunder handed Stuttgart a 1-0 win over Leipzig to strengthen its push to qualify for the Champions League.
Leipzig goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt was under no real pressure in the 56th minute when he passed the ball straight to Stuttgart’s Chris Fuhrich, who played in Undav to score his 16th league goal of the season, more than any other player in the league except Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane.
Stuttgart was fortunate to hold on in added time when Willi Orban was unmarked for a header which beat goalkeeper Alexander Nubel but bounced back off the post before being cleared.
Stuttgart tightened its hold on a Champions League qualifying spot in fourth, opening up a three-point gap to Leipzig in fifth. Stuttgart hasn’t lost in five league games.
Mainz edged away from the relegation fight and up to 13th with a 2-0 win at Werder Bremen. Mainz scored early in each half with Paul Nebel’s diving header and Lee Jae-song’s close-range finish from a low cross. Bremen is 15th.
