The hosts came out on the front foot but it was Die Grun-Weissen who had the game’s first meaningful shot, as Andre Silva tested Noah Atubolu with his strike from range.
It wasn’t long until Freiburg had a notable effort of their own and it was certainly one to remember.
Silva’s attempt to clear Grifo’s corner saw the ball loop up into the air, and Kiliann Sildillia met it with a spectacular bicycle kick to open the scoring on the quarter-hour mark.
Silva passed up the opportunity for a swift equaliser as the striker headed horribly wide from Romano Schmid’s cross, and he then had a shot blocked by Matthias Ginter.
Werder had also started to threaten from set-pieces but conceded from one at the other end in the 33rd minute, with Grifo superbly curling a direct free-kick around the wall and out of Michael Zetterer’s reach.
Silva had an even bigger chance for a quick response after Sildillia handled the ball in his own box, but the loanee was outfoxed by Atubolu, whose antics were backed up by his shot-stopping when he authoritatively palmed the spot-kick away.
Werder continued to have plenty of possession after the break but didn’t create any problems, conceding again in the 57th minute when Grifo roamed into the box unchallenged and effortlessly converted from Lucas Holer’s pinpoint cross.
Anthony Jung’s header on the line ensured there wasn’t further damage from another Grifo corner, and Felix Agu denied a Holer header after another block had diverted Christian Gunter’s initial shot towards the striker.
There was no denying Ritsu Doan, though, as having dispossessed Schmid, he applied a clinical first-time finish to Eren Dinkci’s pass.
Doan then turned home Jan-Niklas Beste’s low cross to add an extra layer of gloss to the scoreline as Freiburg recorded a fourth consecutive Bundesliga victory for the first time since January 2021 to go fourth in the table ahead of RB Leipzig’s match against Heidenheim.
In contrast, Werder have lost three consecutive matches and have tasted victory just once in their eight matches in 2025.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Vincenzo Grifo (Freiburg)