Mith their seventh win in a row, Werder Bremen has at least temporarily taken the top spot in the 2nd Bundesliga. The first division relegated team won 2-1 (0-0) at Hansa Rostock on Friday evening and thus overtook SV Darmstadt 98 (39) and FC St. Pauli (38) with 41 points. Both clubs still play on Saturday and Sunday.
In front of 10,000 spectators in the Ostseestadion, the Green-Whites had a hard time despite their field advantage. It was not until the 52nd minute that Marvin Ducksch redeemed Bremen with his twelfth goal of the season in a Werder jersey. In the 74th minute, Niclas Füllkrug made it 2-0, and Rostock’s goal from Robin Meißner (83rd) came too late. Bremen coach Ole Werner celebrated his seventh win in seven games and is just one win away from beating Otto Rehhagel’s club record. Next Saturday, Werder welcomes the current bottom team FC Ingolstadt.
“We certainly didn’t play our best game of the season today,” said Werner on “Sky”. “But of course we’re very satisfied.” Goal scorer Füllkrug thanked the defensive team in particular. “A special compliment goes to our back team, who defended everything,” said the attacker. As expected, Werder coach Werner had to do without the injured Milos Veljkovic and Felix Agu. Lars Lukas Mai replaced Veljkovic in the three-man defense, Agu was replaced by Mitchell Weiser, as in the 2-1 win against Karlsruher SC.
With the self-confidence from six victories in a row, Bremen also started dominantly in Rostock. The green-whites determined the initial phase, but without creating compelling chances. Only in the 37th minute did Weiser have the first chance for the first division relegated team, but failed because of Rostock goalkeeper Markus Kolke.
Werder also had to fight hard after the change of sides. The hosts even had the first opportunity in the second half, but Nils Fröling failed to counter a counterattack by Bremen goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka (52′). Werder took the lead just two minutes later. After a pass from Romano Schmid, Ducksch flicked the ball beautifully into the Hansa goal.
Werder now had the game under control and made it 2-0 a quarter of an hour before the end. Füllkrug completed a counterattack ice cold. Shortly before, Pavlenka had defused a shot by Ryan Malone with a great save. Despite being behind, Hansa didn’t give up and made it 1:2 through Meißner. Werder wobbled a bit, but managed to win over time and are now first. “It’s a great snapshot,” said Ducksch.
Holstein Kiel also on the upswing
Holstein Kiel’s sporting upswing is also continuing. At the relegation candidates FC Erzgebirge Aue, the North Germans won 3:2 (2:0) in the second half after a crazy match and with the sixth game in a row without defeat they got further away from the danger zone.
In front of 4,788 spectators, Fin Bartels (19th), Sören Gonther (38th / own goal) and Kwasi Wriedt (90th) scored for Kiel. For the table penultimate from Aue, where Soufiane Messeguem (42nd / gross foul play) saw the red card, the situation in the fight for survival after eight consecutive matches without a win is becoming more and more critical. The goals from Nikola Trujic (79th) and Jan Hochscheidt didn’t change that.
The guests, who started with Alexander Mühling again after serving the yellow card suspension, initially had to survive two seconds of shock in snowstorms, but goalkeeper Thomas Dähne made strong saves against Dimitri Nazarov (17th) and Prince Osei Owusu (18th). In return, Bartels did better after Fabian Reese’s sharp cross and scored from five meters. Kiel’s second attempt was also successful, because Gonther directed Julian Korb’s cross into his own net in front of keeper Martin Männel. To make matters worse, Messeguem stepped up against Phil Neumann and rightly saw red.
After the change, playing football on the increasingly difficult ground became increasingly difficult. Kiel went for a counterattack, but failed to add the third goal. Trujic and Hochscheidt were punished with a double strike, but Edeljoker Wriedt still let Kiel celebrate.
