Freiburg return empty-handed from Bremen

Both teams took a moment to remember the victims of National Socialism prior to kick-off holding a banner from the !NieWieder initiative (English: !NeverAgain), and taking a clear position against right-wing extremism and hate. The fans at the wohninvest Weserstadion once again took part in a protest against the DFL, remaining silent for the first 12 minutes of the match.

SC made two changes to their starting XI following last weekend’s win over Hoffenheim. Lukas Kübler replaced Manuel Gulde (suspended), while Noah Weißhaupt came into the side for Roland Sallai (ill). Bremen came into the game without their match-winner from last weekend’s trip to Munich, with Mitchell Weiser sidelined with an adductor issue. The opening moments of the match saw the hosts record several attacks before being awarded a penalty in the seventh minute. Jordi Makengo was judged to have brought down his man after making contact with his opponent’s heel, with VAR coming into play to award Bremen a spot-kick. Marvin Ducksch duly stepped up and converted it to give them the lead. “We didn’t get off to a good start,” admitted Maximilian Eggestein afterwards.

Two goals from the spot

SC’s first chance of the afternoon came in the 12th minute, with a free kick that sailed towards goal without posing a real threat. During a break in play to allow staff to remove several chocolate coins that had been thrown onto the pitch by the fans as part of their protest against the DFL, Christian Streich used this opportunity to give his players further instructions. The head coach was clearly unsatisfied with how his team had started into the match. The visitors came close to levelling the score in the 18th minute, as a cross from Grifo found the head of Lucas Höler. However, Werder goalkeeper Michael Zetterer was able to make the save.

Freiburg were camped out in Bremen’s half at this point, and were able to win several set pieces. Matthias Ginter nearly succeeded in redirecting a free kick from Grifo on target, but Zetterer was able to get in the way once more (21′). SC were then awarded a penalty in the 27th minute, after Weißhaupt was brought down inside the box. Grifo stepped up to take it, confidently sending Zetterer the wrong way to bring Freiburg level. It was a deserved equaliser, as SC had done well to fight back to take control of the proceedings.

Werder were able to mount another attack as we entered into the final 15 minutes of the opening half, but a well-time clearance from Ginter snuffed out the chance before it could truly pose a threat (34′). Justin Njinmah broke through on the left wing in first-half injury time and found Ducksch in the middle, but the striker was unable to get a shot off.

Werder the better side, SC struggle to create chances

SC started well into the second half, with Merlin Röhl and then Makengo both winning set pieces in quick succession – neither resulted in a clear-cut chance on goal, however. Instead, it was the Green-Whites who recorded the first real chances of the second half. Jens Stage was able to get off a shot from range, before Njinmah went on a solo run that saw him beat three defenders before slotting home into the bottom corner, allowing Bremen to retake the lead (53′). The hosts became the better side from then on, with Njinmah posing a constant threat. He only narrowly missed the target in the 60th minute, as Atubolu then had to parry a Ducksch corner away from danger (67′).

Streich’s side struggled to match their good form from the opening half. Despite having more of the ball than their opponents, the Breisgau side were kept at bay by a solid Werder defence. Substitute Leonardo Bittencourt rattled the crossbar with an audacious attempt to catch Atubolu off his line from the centre of the park, in a huge let off for SC (82′). Two minutes later, Nick Woltemade sent a shot wide of the target, before Rafael Borré also missed late on (87′). Werder were able to put the game to bed in injury time after capitalising on a mistake from substitute Attila Szalai. His attempted back pass was easily intercepted by an onrushing Julian Malatini, who rounded Atubolu to net Werder’s third and final goal of the afternoon, capping off a 3-1 victory for the Green-Whites.

The game was gone, even if Maximilian Philipp and Ginter had two decent headed opportunities late on. Goalscorer Grifo and Eggestein were in agreement after the game: “The first half was decent, but we struggled to find space after that. We didn’t get enough shots off and our build-up play was too slow.”

Streich had a similar view on the defeat: “We did well in the first half after the equaliser. Bremen were better in the second half and we have too many players currently not at 100%. It was a deserved victory for Werder because we weren’t good enough in the second half.”

Photo: Fabian Bimmer