Round 25 of the Bundesliga comes to an end in the capital, with Werder Bremen heading to Old Forsterley to face Union Berlin. After a comfortable performance in the first half of the season, Essening’s inconsistent form since the winter break has slowly kept them away from the contention for European places.
The visitors, now led by Daniel Thioune, go into this game on the back of their first win since November. A second win on the bounce would cost them a relegation play-off spot.
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Steffen Baumgart made three changes to the side that lost to Monchengladbach last time out, with Jannik Haberer, Andrei Ilic and Ilyas Ansah returning to the lineup. Tijuen made just one change, with Kok Top returning in place of Jovan Milosevic.
Union had the majority of possession in the opening quarter of an hour but were awarded a penalty when Niklas Stark pushed down Ilias Ansah who had scored. Derrick Köhn confidently converted the penalty past Mio Backhaus to give the home side a deserved lead.
The game changed almost immediately when András Schäfer was sent off for a clumsy tackle on the Jens stage in the middle of the park.
This quickly gave Bremen new impetus and led to two quick chances. Stage rose and flew from the edge of the area, forcing Frederik Rønnow into a fine save. Before the attack ended, the stage was set for a brilliant pass from Yukinari Sugawara. The Japan international should have at least been on target but his shot went over the crossbar.
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Bremen continued to push for an equalizer and they did so soon after with a perfect finish from Olivier Deman. Tijuen’s side were unhappy going into half-time tied and soon took the lead when Cameron Puertas headed home from the stage following a corner kick.
Tiyoun made two changes at halftime, withdrawing Koko Top and Marco Friedel, who both received yellow cards, and replacing Leonardo Bitancourt and Julian Maratini.
The visitors continued to press at the start of the second half and the two scorers combined to almost extend their lead, with Deman playing a pass for Stast, who broke the frame.
Bremen continued to dominate possession with 10 men in the league and extended their lead 20 minutes into the second half. After the Union defense failed to clear the ball, the ball fell to Romano Schmid in the penalty area, although Schmid could have pulled the trigger himself; he chose to square it for Marco Grüll, who had the simple task of poking the goalkeeper.
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Bremen performed well and did not give the league any scoring chances. They added the icing on the cake at the end of stoppage time when 18-year-old Patrice Čović scored the fourth goal after Leonardo Bittencourt’s brilliant breakaway.
It was a difficult day for the league as András Schäfer was sent off just 19 minutes into the game and from then on Bremen completely controlled the game without giving them any chances. In stark contrast to their form over the past three months, they moved up to 13th with their second win on the spinth place.
Union Berlin 1-4 Werder Bremen | Player ratings
Union Berlin:
Frederic Lenno (4) – Danijo Dokshi (5), Leopold Quafield (4), Stanley Nsoki (5) – Jannik Habele (5), András Schaefer (3), Ayosha Kemlein (5), Derek Cohen (6) – Rani Khedira (6) – Andrei Ilic (6), Ilyas Ansah (6)
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Others: Woo——Britain Zheng(6)Tim Skaker(-), Christopher Trimmell(-)
Werder Bremen:
Mio Backhaus (6) – Sugawara Yukinari (6), Niklas Stark (6), Marco Friedel (5), Olivier Deman (8) – Sene Laing (6), Jens Stieg (9), Cameron Puertas (7) – Marco Gruhl (7), Romano Schmid (6), Koko Top (5)
Others: Leonardo Bittencourt(6), Julian Maratini (6)Justin Njinma(-)Isaac Schmidt (-), Patrice Covic (-)
GGFN Man of the Match|Jens Stage(9)
The Danish midfielder was in fine form at the Alt Forstre Stadion, scoring and assisting in the first half to turn the game around. Stage finished the game with a passing accuracy of 87% and created 3 chances (via Fotmob ).
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Speaking to Bundesliga after the game, Stage was keen to stress that his team had no illusions about the situation they found themselves in: “It’s an important win for the fans and the club and for us we know the situation. I think we tried our best to focus on the performance. We can be happy.“
GGFN | Harry Goode