BERLIN, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Freiburg booked its place in the league phase of the Conference League with a commanding 4-1 home victory over Motherwell, completing a 7-2 aggregate win in the playoff tie on Thursday.
Coach Julian Schuster made seven changes from the side that won the first leg 3-1 in Scotland, bringing captain Christian Gunter, Philipp Treu, Max Rosenfelder, Yannik Engelhardt, Cyriaque Irie, Derry Scherhant and Igor Matanovic into the starting lineup.
Scherhant needed only six minutes to reward the reshuffle. Maximilian Eggestein released the winger with a precise pass, and Scherhant kept his composure against goalkeeper Alex Paulsen to put Freiburg ahead.
The host controlled much of the opening half, but Motherwell leveled unexpectedly in the 22nd minute when Emmanuel Longelo tried his luck from distance and goalkeeper Mio Backhaus failed to gather the shot.
Freiburg quickly resumed its pressure. Yuito Suzuki went close twice, while Irie struck the crossbar shortly before halftime as Schuster's side searched for a second.
The pattern continued after the interval, with Suzuki threatening again before Scherhant became the central figure in a decisive spell. Jake Girdwood-Reich was sent off for bringing him down as he broke toward goal, leaving the Scottish visitor with 10 men.
Scherhant was denied by Paulsen from the resulting free kick, but his corner moments later was headed home by Matanovic in the 60th minute. Three minutes later, Irie added Freiburg's third, again converting from a Scherhant delivery to put the tie firmly beyond Motherwell.
Matthias Ginter then struck the post as Freiburg continued to push forward against the depleted visitor.
Keisuke Goto, who had also scored after coming off the bench in the first leg, completed the scoring in the 85th minute with a left-footed finish into the top-right corner.
Freiburg will discover its Conference League opponents in Friday's draw before opening its Bundesliga campaign against Werder Bremen on Sunday. ■
