Werder Bremen suffered the next blow in the relegation battle in the catch-up game. Even a long majority against Hoffenheim doesn’t help Horst Steffen’s team. FC St. Pauli collects a morale point – with a late penalty.
SV Werder missed the breakthrough in the relegation battle. Despite being outnumbered for more than 35 minutes, Bremen lost 0-2 (0-1) in the catch-up game on matchday 16 against Champions League candidate TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and have now been waiting for a win for nine games. They also remained without a goal for the fifth time in the last six games and are still 15th in the table.
The guests from Kraichgau consolidated their third place in the table and achieved their fourth win in a row, although they had to make do with ten men since the 52nd minute after the red card for Wouter Burger. Alexander Prass (44th) took the lead with a dream goal, shortly after the dismissal Grischa Prömel (54th) increased the score.
Both teams didn’t need any time to feel things out and tried to move forward from the start. After just under 55 seconds, Bremen’s Justin Njinmah scored, but narrowly missed from 13 meters. The guests were visually superior with their playing quality. But coach Christian Ilzer’s team was initially only rarely compelling. Werder goalkeeper Mio Backhaus parried a header from Andrej Kramaric after a corner. That’s it for now.
After the restart things get hectic
After the intense initial phase, the game flattened out. Werder failed to build up pressure. And the guests also had a hard time. The lead was all the more surprising for Hoffenheim when Prass chased the ball into the corner from 20 meters, making it unstoppable for Backhaus.
Shortly after the start of the second half things got hectic. Hoffenheim’s Burgers rightly saw red after a serious foul on Puertas. But just two minutes later, the Kraichgauer team extended their lead through Prömel. Even after being checked by VAR, the goal remained valid.
When Romano Schmid (65th) scored what was supposed to be the next goal, Bremen briefly felt hopeful. The VAR dashed this hope because of Schmid’s offside position. What followed was proof of SV Werder’s current playing limitations. Despite the majority, the game seemed unimaginative. The Hoffenheim team compensated for their numerical inferiority with a strong running performance and deservedly achieved success.
St. Pauli gets a late penalty
FC St. Pauli has put a damper on top club RB Leipzig in the race for the Champions League places. The Hamburg team made it 1-1 (0-0) thanks to Martijn Kaars’ late goal from a penalty kick in the third minute of stoppage time. The Saxons ended their goalless series at the Millerntor Stadium, but remained without a win in their fourth appearance at the Hanseatic League.
Star player Yan Diomande put RB in the lead with his remarkable goal in front of 29,147 spectators in the 66th minute and thus scored Leipzig’s first goal at the Millerntor in the fourth game. The relegation-threatened club from Hamburg, which was an equal opponent for long stretches, came back late and truly earned the point.
Early in the game, Leipzig’s goallessness was almost history. Xaver Schlager (8th) shot from almost 20 meters. And his shot off the post caused the first excitement in the stands.
Even before the game, fans had loudly raised their voices against fascism on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Banners reading “No Forgive, No Forget” were held aloft in the stands. The players from both teams also held up a banner.
The hosts made clever use of their planned transitions, Rocky-Jade Jones ran freely towards the Leipzig goal twice, but especially on the second attempt (23rd) he maneuvered the ball wide. St. Pauli’s nimble Englishman was also involved in the next good move (38th), but he hesitated for too long and overlooked his better-positioned teammate Joel Chima Fujita. It would have been offside anyway. The lightning-fast player often seemed a step too late in his attempts. The actions were symptomatic of Hamburg’s poor performance this season.
Leipzig chances before the break
Although Leipzig had their own approaches to goal, they didn’t cut a good figure at times due to a few ball losses and a lot of space for the Hanseatic League. Antonio Nusa was denied by goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj from a promising position shortly before the half-time whistle, then Romulo fired a shot from a tight angle just wide of the goal.
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In the second half it was a thoroughly entertaining goalless game. Quite the opposite to Hamburg’s bland and weak performance in the derby against HSV. But both teams acted too imprecisely when things got serious in front of the opposing goal.
It was only attacker Diomande’s powerful shot at the edge of the penalty area that made Leipzig celebrate. The ball rushed unstoppably into the left corner. But it wasn’t the end point: In stoppage time, referee Florian Exner awarded a penalty after a foul by David Raum on Kaars. The substitute Dutchman stepped up himself, finished and caused exuberant celebrations at the Millerntor.
luwi/dpa
