Japan's Goto fires Freiburg to Bundesliga summit

BERLIN: Japan forward Keisuke Goto's late header fired ten-man Freiburg to the top of the German Bundesliga table with a 2-1 win over Schalke on Sunday.

Goto's 85th minute winner saw Freiburg leapfrog Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund into first place, after his compatriot Yuito Suzuki was sent off in the second half.

"It's still very early in the season, so we know not to make too much of it," Freiburg midfielder Matthias Ginter said.

"We have maximum ambition but we know there's a lot of hard work ahead of us," he added.

Maximilian Eggestein headed Freiburg in front from a corner early on and the hosts looked to be in full control of the game until the half-hour mark.

Schalke then hit back through a corner of their own, debutant Adrian Gantenbein smashing a loose ball in via a deflection.

Freiburg's grip on the game slipped further in the second half when Suzuki was dismissed for a second yellow card.

Yet Julian Schuster's side remained positive against a defensive Schalke side and were rewarded with five minutes to play.

Vincenzo Grifo picked out Goto with a curling cross into the box, and the 21-year-old nodded the ball past Schalke goalkeeper Loris Karius.

Earlier on Sunday, Borussia Moenchengladbach remained rock bottom of the table after a 2-1 defeat to local rivals Cologne, in a match overshadowed by ugly scenes on the terraces.

The game was suspended for several minutes and riot police surrounded the away block after Gladbach fans appeared to fire fireworks into the home sections after Said El Mala's superb second-half winner.

"There is no place for that kind of thing in the stadium, nobody wants to see it and it shocked all of us," Gladbach's sporting director Rouwen Schroeder told Dazn after the game, adding the club would launch an investigation.

Defeat maintained pointless Gladbach's miserable start to the season as new coach Alexander Blessin failed to prevent the club falling to their fifth defeat in as many games.

The heated derby was a baptism of fire for Blessin, who replaced Eugen Polanski as Gladbach coach in September with the task of turning around a rapidly sinking ship.

"I can't fault my players at all, they gave everything for more than 90 minutes today," said Blessin, who was involved in a brief but heated conversation with Gladbach fans after the game.

Gladbach had the best chance in a cagey first 20 minutes when Philipp Sander stung the palms of Cologne goalkeeper Marvin Schwaebe with a fizzing free-kick.

Yet, it was the hosts who struck first thanks to a spectacular goal from Isak Bergmann Johannesson.

Johannesson pounced on a loose ball on the edge of the area after a Cologne free-kick, curling the ball into the top corner with an elegant, side-footed volley.

US international Joe Scally headed in an equaliser shortly before half time, celebrating provocatively in front of the Cologne fans.

El Mala missed a golden chance to restore the lead for Cologne after the break, shooting straight at the goalkeeper when both he and team mate Marius Buelter were through on goal.

Yet the 20-year-old, who made his international debut for Germany last week, made amends shortly afterwards.

In the 66th minute, he cut inside on the edge of the area and rifled the ball into the bottom corner.

Gladbach had several chances to equalise following the brief suspension of the game, but Cologne held on for their second win of the season, which moved them up into mid-table.

"I'd been looking forward to this game for weeks and it's unbelievably cool to get all three points in the derby," El Mala told Dazn.

"It's going to kick off in the dressing room!" he added--AFP