Schuster: "A mature and disciplined performance" | OneFootball

“That was a very mature and disciplined performance today against a team who have a lot of quality,” said Schuster who sees his Freiburg side move up to fifth in his maiden year as a Bundesliga coach.

“The lads perfectly executed the game plan we worked on together,” he added. “We had to wait for spaces to open up, but we kept going and reacted brilliantly to setbacks. I have to hand it to the team.”

Schuster was serenaded by Freiburg's travelling contingent who made the long trip from the edge of the Black Forest up to Hamburg.

For large periods, it seemed as if a draw was a probable and fair result at the sold-out Millerntor-Stadion, with Freiburg's best chance of the encounter being a missed penalty from Vincenzo Grifo on the stroke of half time.

However, an inadvertent combination between captain Christian Günter and ex-Freiburg man Phillip Treu ensured that Freiburg took three points back down south with them.

With St. Pauli defender Treu beating his own goalkeeper after deflecting a Günter cross, an explosion of noise emerged from the end containing the Freiburg faithful before Schuster's men saw out a third consecutive 1-0 win on the road.

Sitting in fifth place, a single point away from RB Leipzig in fourth, Freiburg now turn their attention to a clash against fellow European hopefuls Werder Bremen next weekend.