Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Freiburg: Bundesliga match postponed due to tennis ball and chocolate protests

Borussia Dortmund defeated Freiburg in another Bundesliga match postponed due to protests over an investment proposal by the German Football Association.

Home captain Emre Can told supporters before the match restarted.

Dortmund sealed the victory thanks to two goals from Donyell Malen and one from Niklas Furkrug on his 31st birthday.

After Flukrug's goal, England winger Jadon Sancho came on as a substitute in the 88th minute, having a shot saved by Noah Atbolu and heading in the rebound.

Sancho, looking to score his first goal for Dortmund since returning to Dortmund on loan from Manchester United, also had a chance, but was unable to convert his goal-bound volley.

Edin Terzic's side are unbeaten in eight competitive games since losing 3-2 at home to RB Leipzig on December 9th.

More protests in Bundesliga

In December, a majority vote by German clubs approved a proposal to sell part of the Bundesliga's television rights in exchange for investment funds.

Supporters threw tennis balls onto the pitch during Bochum's 3-0 win over Union Berlin in December, while Heidenheim's 1-1 draw with Wolfsburg last month was part of league-wide protests. There was a 12 minute interruption.

Dortmund's 4-0 win over Cologne on January 20 was delayed for eight minutes after fans of both teams threw tennis balls and gold coins onto the pitch.

Protests also broke out on Friday when Hannover beat Hamburg 4-3 in the second round of the Bundesliga.

Hamburg fans had six padlocks tied to the goal and net and three padlocks to one post at half-time, and the padlocks had to be cut before the game could be restarted.

During the match between Dortmund and Freiburg, a number of tennis balls and golden chocolate coins were thrown onto the pitch behind the host team's goal during the first half.

Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel was filmed kicking and juggling tennis balls while the object was being removed.

Fans also held up banners, including one that read “No to investors in the DFL (German Football League).”

More tennis balls were thrown onto the pitch after 60 minutes, but this did not result in a long stoppage.

Sancho maintains winning streak

Sancho, 23, has won all four of his matches for Dortmund, but the hosts were winning 3-0 before coming on in the second half.

He missed the scoreless draw against Heidenheim on February 2 due to an adductor injury, but played the final minutes of the game.

In September, Sancho claimed on social media that he had been made a “scapegoat” after United manager Erik ten Hag said the winger had been left out of the match-day squad due to his level of training.

The forward then trained away from the Red Devils' first team before rejoining Dortmund, joining United from the German side in a £73m move in July 2021.

Malen put Dortmund ahead with a high shot on goal. After a delay in protest, the Dutchman scored his second goal with an angle shot seven minutes into 12 minutes of first-half stoppage time.

Furkrug grabbed his third goal in the 87th minute with a powerful header from a cross from Ian Maassen, who is on loan from Chelsea.

Dortmund remain fourth in the Bundesliga table, 12 points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who will face second-placed Bayern Munich on Saturday at 17:30 Japan time.