Points shared in Bremen after three disallowed goals

Line-up and formation: Christian Groß made his return to Werder’s starting XI and led the boys out against Darmstadt, after Marco Friedl tore his syndesmosis ligament in training earlier this week. Justin Njinmah also made an appearance in the Green-Whites’ line-up in, replacing forward Nick Woltemade.

Werder’s starting XI: Zetterer, Jung, Stage, Ducksch, Weiser, Lynen, Njinmah, Schmid, Malatini, Agu, Groß (c).

Bench: Pavlenka, Deman, Kownacki, Bittencourt, Borré, Alvero, Woltemade, Röcker.

A disallowed goal and an overruled penalty

Combination play between Agu and Njinmah was a key component of Werder’s attack (Photo: WERDER.DE).

First-half highlights:

2nd minute:Njinmah drives down the left wing, and outwits the Darmstadt defender with some nifty footwork in the box. He delivers it to Schmid in the middle, but the Austrian isn’t fully anticipating it, and he sends the ball wide with his first-time shot.

8th minute: The Green-Whites take the lead! Christoph Zimmermann’s own goal opens the scoring less than 10 minutes into the first half. Ducksch and Schmid combine down the right, and Werder’s number 20 drives forward. He squares it into the path of an oncoming Njinmah, but the Darmstadt defender comes sliding in and sends it into the back of his own net.

18th minute: Werder are awarded a penalty for a potential foul on Ducksch. However, VAR overrules the decision, and Ducksch is handed a yellow card for diving.

33rd minute: Julian Justvan hits home the equaliser for the visitors. After a turnover of possession, Darmstadt fly down the right and find Justvan on the left-hand side of the box. The midfielder pulls the trigger, and fires the ball underneath Zetterer into the far corner.

Luck on Werder’s side

Ducksch was involved in creating the majority of Werder’s chances (Photo:W.DE).

Second-half highlights:

53rd minute: Ducksch curls a free-kick in the direction of the visitors’ net, but Schuhen is on hand to clear the danger.

78th minute: Starke fires one home for Darmstadt to put them 2-1 ahead, but it’s disallowed due to offside.

83rd minute: A Green-White corner finds Groß in the middle, but he can’t get a good connection on it and the ball narrowly misses the Darmstadt goal.

90th minute +7: Starke finds the net again for the visitors after beating Zetterer in a 1-v-1, but the goal is disallowed AGAIN as VAR spots a handball in the build-up!

90th minute +9: Full time! The points are shared in Bremen.

Summary: Werder’s clash against Darmstadt on matchday 23 ended 1-1 after an action-packed second half at the wohninvest WESERSTADION. The result was ultimately justified by the fact that neither side had the upper hand, despite having three goals disallowed, an overruled penalty, and a number of yellow cards between them.

A disallowed goal and an overruled penalty

Combination play between Agu and Njinmah was a key component of Werder’s attack (Photo: WERDER.DE).

First-half highlights:

18th minute: Werder are awarded a penalty for a potential foul on Ducksch. However, VAR overrules the decision, and Ducksch is handed a yellow card for diving.