Motherwell v FreiburgImage source, SNS

At a glance

  • Regan Charles-Cook slides in early opener

  • Matthias Ginter header and spot-kick either side of interval gives Freiburg lead after Martin Moorman is shown red card following VAR review

  • Late header from Keisuke Goto adds third for dominant visitors

ByKheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland at Fir Park

Ten-man Motherwell gave last season's Europa League runners-up Freiburg a real fright at Fir Park before the Bundesliga side ultimately won by a two-goal margin in this Conference League play-off tie.

On a night of confusing VAR delays, a fabulous early goal from Regan Charles-Cook - deftly touching in Emmanuel Longelo's fine cross - had the home crowd rocking after just two minutes.

In their first competitive match of the season, the stunned Germans looked a little rusty but didn't take long to find their feet.

Matthias Ginter - who won 51 caps for Germany - headed in an excellent cross from Derry Scherhant to equalise midway through the first period.

The goal was only confirmed after the first of two lengthy VAR checks.

The second followed the award to Freiburg of a second-half penalty, expertly converted by defender Ginter for his second of the match. He was held a long time before being allowed to take the kick, however, after the Romanian referee Radu Petrescu was called over to the TV monitor.

Centre-back Martin Moormann was then sent off before Ginter put Freiburg ahead, with Motherwell forced to play the remaining 25 minutes with 10 men.

As well as the Premiership side did to stay competitive, Freiburg realistically put the tie beyond Motherwell when substitute Keisuke Goto headed in from a corner with the last act of the game.

What looked like a tough-enough assignment before a ball was kicked now seems like mission impossible for new head coach Alfred Johansson.

His side head to Germany next week aiming to pull off one of the biggest shocks in European football at the Europa-Park Stadion next Thursday.

Analysis: Motherwell run out of steam

For 26 minutes, the Motherwell fans were in dreamland, leading the Europa League runners-up. They'd flown out of the blocks with Charles-Cook's early opener but started to wilt when Freiburg finally found their feet.

It was just what the tie needed; the Germans caught cold in their first competitive outing of the season. They warmed up nicely and were soon showing their hosts an even better version of the attractive, fast-flowing football for which Motherwell have become renowned in the past year or so.

Alex Paulsen was a busy man in the Motherwell goal and, but for the Bournemouth loanee, this could have been pretty messy.

It was hard enough for Motherwell with a full complement of players. When a penalty decision went against them and they lost Moormann, the crackling atmosphere at Fir Park was dampened.

Freiburg were worthy winners and will now be overwhelming favourites to complete the job on their own patch next week and head for the Conference League group stage.

What they said

Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson: "It's a mixture of disappointment and being proud.

"I think we spoke before the game that we wanted to see a team with a certain strong mentality, a certain bravery to play our game, and I think we saw that today.

"I think the start to the second half is good. Then obviously some things happen throughout the game, which makes the result not so good for us.

"That's where the disappointment comes from.

"I think that's me talking to you now straight after the game, and I'm pretty sure that when I watch the game back that the sense of pride will take over."

What's next?

Motherwell have a free weekend ahead of next week's trip to Germany.

Freiburg start their domestic season with a cup tie at third-tier Fortuna Dusseldorf on Sunday.

Player of the match

Number: 1 A. Paulsen
Average rating 7.56
Number: 1 A. Paulsen
Average Rating: 7.56
Number: 45 E. Longelo
Average Rating: 6.81
Number: 17 Regan Charles-Cook
Average Rating: 6.71
Number: 3 J. Girdwood-Reich
Average Rating: 6.69
Number: 8 L. Fadinger
Average Rating: 6.68
Number: 47 S. Palmer-Houlden
Average Rating: 6.54
Number: 5 M. Moormann
Average Rating: 6.50
Number: 4 J. Knight-Lebel
Average Rating: 6.50
Number: 19 I. Said
Average Rating: 6.42
Number: 71 J. Hodge
Average Rating: 6.31
Number: 11 A. Lowry
Average Rating: 6.27
Number: 2 S. O'Donnell
Average Rating: 6.08
Number: 77 W. Vogt
Average Rating: 5.69
Number: 25 O. Whyte
Average Rating: 5.68
Number: 23 E. Wilson
Average Rating: 5.48
Number: 18 T. Maswanhise
Average Rating: 5.35

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.

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