BERLIN, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Two first-half goals from Vincenzo Grifo and Ritsu Doan helped Freiburg see off Qarabag 2-1, while Royale Union Saint-Gilloise flabbergasted an uninspired Union Berlin with a sole goal from Senne Lynen in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.
Freiburg made a perfect start on home soil as Qarabag's Tural Bayramov fouled on Matthias Ginter inside the box. Grifo stepped up and kept his nerves from the spot to score the penalty with just seven minutes gone.
The hosts had the chance to make it 2-0, but an unmarked Doan pulled over from seven meters.
The visitors from Azerbaijan were unable to put up resistance in the opening stages and couldn't prevent Freiburg from scoring again as Doan danced through the defence before curling the ball past Qarabag goalkeeper Sharudin Magomedaliyev with 15 minutes played.
Qarabag sparked into life and pushed forward as Abdellah Zoubir unleashed a long-range effort to test Freiburg custodian Mark Flekken at the half-hour mark.
Freiburg retreated with its 2-0 lead and got punished in the 39th minute when Marko Vesovic halved the deficit after.
After the restart, Freiburg defended well and was able to protect its advantage against a resilient Qarabag until the final whistle.
Elsewhere, Union Berlin suffered its first defeat of the season in its first UEFA Europa League game.
The Eisernen staged an uninspired performance and were unable to respond to Saint-Gilloise's opener through Lynen just before half-time.
The victory for the Belgium underdogs was never in danger, as Union lacked in ideas and had to complete with ten men after Sven Michel received his marching orders for a foul in the closing stages. ■
