SC Freiburg 4, Motherwell 1: a Longelo goal, a second red card of the tie, and a 7-2 aggregate exit

Date: 2026-08-27 Author: MotherwellFC match pipeline

Question

What happened in the second leg in Freiburg, and what does it say about where Motherwell are?

Data

Stat pack data/processed/motherwell/statpacks/2026-08-27_401910990.json (ESPN box score ✓, xG ✗ (non-league), market ✗).

Results

Match story — level on the night at 1-1, then three goals after Girdwood-Reich's red card

Motherwell lost 4-1 at the Europa-Park Stadion (attendance 30,841, referee Andrea Colombo) and went out 7-2 on aggregate, per the pack's leg note. Derry Scherhant scored for Freiburg in the 6th minute; Emmanuel Longelo equalised in the 22nd, Ibrahim Sa'Id credited with the assist. Tom Sparrow replaced Tawanda Maswanhise at half-time. Jamie Knight-Lebel was booked in the 55th and Jake Girdwood-Reich was sent off in the 57th; Igor Matanovic and Cyriaque Irié scored in the 60th and 63rd. Motherwell made three changes in the 65th minute, Olly Whyte, Regan Charles-Cook and Willy Gabriel Vogt Veigantes for Joseph Hodge, Seb Palmer-Houlden and Sa'Id, and Dylan Williams replaced Alexander Lowry in the 76th. Keisuke Goto scored the fourth in the 85th. Motherwell played 4-3-3 against a 4-2-3-1.

What the numbers say — 29 shots against and two for

Freiburg had 70.2% possession, 29 shots to Motherwell's 2, 11 on target to 1, 7 corners to 1, and completed 608 of 664 passes to Motherwell's 228 of 284. Alex Paulsen made 6 saves. Irié had 7 shots and Scherhant 6 with a goal and two assists. No xG or market data for a European tie.

Personnel and usage — Longelo's goal was one of Motherwell's two shots

Longelo scored from Motherwell's only shot on target; Palmer-Houlden had the other shot. Sa'Id assisted. Girdwood-Reich, starting at right-back, was sent off, Motherwell's second red card of the tie; Knight-Lebel was booked. Ewan Wilson started at centre-back. Sixteen players were used. Minutes are estimated from substitution times.

Where this leaves the season — three defeats in a row across competitions, and Europe over

Nine competitive matches: 4-2-3, 12 scored, 10 conceded. Ten of those goals against came in the last three matches. Over the last five matches in all competitions the form reads DWLLL, 4 goals for and 8 against. The league programme resumed at St Mirren three days later.

Limitations

One leg against a Bundesliga side; vendor box score; estimated minutes; no xG.

Takeaway

Motherwell were level at 1-1 in Freiburg through Longelo until a 57th-minute red card, then conceded three in 28 minutes to go out 7-2 on aggregate. Two shots in 90 minutes and two red cards across the tie tell the story of the play-off; the European run still delivered four wins, four clean sheets and two rounds before it met a side of this level.

Next iteration

Back to the Premiership at St Mirren on 30 August, the start of a run of league-only fixtures.