Four days after the 0: 3 in the catch-up game against Eintracht Frankfurt, the penultimate table also lost the home game against VfL Wolfsburg 0: 1 (0: 0). The deciding goal was headed by the Dutchman Wout Weghorst in the 82nd minute.
Wolfsburg’s defensive made little difference to Bremen, which was at risk of relegation.
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–The Swiss international Kevin Mbabu (right) was used for Wolfsburg over the full season.
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–Players from both teams kneel together on the grass at the center circle to take a stand against racism and show solidarity with protesters in the United States and protests worldwide after George Floyd’s brutal death.
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The Bremen team have been without a win in their home Weser Stadium for more than nine months. On Sunday, they also missed the chance to at least catch up with Fortuna Düsseldorf on the Barrageplatz. Mainz 05 on the first direct non-relegation zone is now six points away. Wolfsburg, on the other hand, advanced to sixth place in the Europa League.
The only hope now is the supposedly solvable remaining program on the last four match days. The next home game is against the old and probably also new German champions Bayern Munich. But the other three opponents are SC Paderborn, Mainz 05 and on the last matchday 1. FC Köln.
On the days before the game, both clubs had made a public effort. Wolfsburg coach Oliver Glasner complained about the loud behavior of the Bremen substitutes during a ghost game. Werder’s sports director Frank Baumann firmly rejected this. But shortly before the kick-off, both teams spoke in one language: All players around the middle circle went to their knees symbolically to join the worldwide protests against racism. In this game, it wasn’t just a single goal scorer who showed this gesture instead of cheering. Everyone participated here.
The two supposedly best Bremen attackers Milot Rashica (ankle injury) and Leonardo Bittencourt, who was substituted in later, were not involved in the protest and kick-off. Without them, coach Florian Kohfeldt strengthened the defensive, relied on a five-back line and thus stabilized the structure noticeably compared to 0: 3 against Frankfurt.
Wolfsburg was better from the play area
Werder kept the game balanced and had two good opportunities with the two substitutes Joshua Sargent (24th) and Yuya Osako (31st). But this is how it works for the Bremen team this season: if they have a problem (behind) supposedly under control, another one (front) opens up immediately. In this lineup, Werder was too harmless to attack. Because in the opposing penalty area, the team hardly ever came to a conclusion.
Wolfsburg was better in terms of the playground, but made it too little for a long time. After all, VfL had the best chance of the game when Weghorst appeared in front of Jiri Pavlenka in the 13th minute. The Bremen goalkeeper defused the shot.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms set in after the break. And the Bremen team initially felt somewhat reminded of the course of the Frankfurt game. Wolfsburg got stronger and Werder struggled to keep up with the pace of the physically stronger guests. But this time the relegation candidate once again opposed this and forced VfL to engage in a duel-intensive fight for every square meter of the field. But even that only went well until the 82nd minute.
Werder Bremen – VfL Wolfsburg 0: 1 (0: 0)
Goal: 82. Weghorst 0: 1. – Remarks: Bremen without Lang (replacement), Wolfsburg with Mbabu and Mehmedi (up to 64.), without Steffen (blocked). 81st bat shot Schlager (Wolfsburg).
(dpa)
Posted at 3:42 PM today-
