Status: 05/08/2022 16:37
Werder Bremen opened the door to the Bundesliga with a 3-0 (0-0) victory over FC Erzgebirge Aue. The Hanseatic League improved to second place ahead of the season finale next weekend.
In the home game on Sunday (15.30, in the direct center on NDR.de) against Jahn Regensburg, coach Ole Werner’s team is now enough for a draw to make the direct return to the first division perfect and follow Schalke 04 to it. top flight. Marco Friedl (49th), Niclas Füllkrug (90th + 2nd) and Niklas Schmidt (90th + 6th) scored on Sunday afternoon in the sunny Erzgebirge with their goals for the hard-fought victory, which put the four-time champion in a magnificent starting position.
“3: 0 sounds easier than it was. There was a lot at stake. I did not like it offensively today. Nevertheless, we showed our quality again in the end and were patient,” said Füllkrug.
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Werder lucky after a few seconds
After just a few seconds, it became clear that it would be an extremely unpleasant afternoon for Werder. After the first Auer attack, guest goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka had to get the ball out of the box. Tom Baumgart had promoted him there, but could only enjoy his supposed first goal of the season for a very short time. Referee Benjamin Brand (Unterspiesheim) rejected the goal because “Veilchen” legend Dimitrij Nazarov – who played his 250th second division match against Bremen – had previously intervened decisively and was offside.
Bremen harmlessly before the break
The guests were warned and knew most recently that the Erzgebirge were willing to show a different face than in the previous week in the 0: 6 bankruptcy in Darmstadt 98. And coach Pavel Dotchev’s team did brilliantly. A class difference between the relegated and the prospects for promotion could only be seen in phases up to halftime. Every now and then, Bremen let their big football class blink. After 45 hard-fought minutes, however, they had only one chance worth mentioning: Romano Schmid was saved by goalkeeper Philipp Klewin (38 ‘).
On the other hand, Pavlenka had to stretch after a shot from Nazarov to prevent the favorite from coming back (41 ‘). By then, Werder’s captain, Ömer Toprak, was no longer on the pitch. The defender was injured when the game became more physical, and he had to leave the field.
Friedl scores shortly after the break
From the outside, the 32-year-old watched his team start the second half with much more force, and was quickly rewarded with a goal: Friedl scored after a precise post from Leonardo Bittencourt. The Werner elf did not lean back afterwards, but pushed to the second goal. It was exactly the right strategy against an opponent who continued to work every inch of the pitch but who was inferior in football. So Werder kept track of the game. The only shortcoming at Bremen: They did not play their attack with enough concentration and thus missed to make a preliminary decision.
So until the last whistle, there was a danger that one of the long Auer balls could somehow slip through and lead to a lucky blow for the relegated. It did not happen, however. And when Füllkrug made it 2-0 with a slightly deflected shot in extra time, Werner’s Werder team were confident of the three points. Substitute Schmidt even scored the third Bremen goal for the slightly too-high 3-0 win for the favorites, who had fought very, very hard for 45 minutes.
Game day 33, 08.05.2022 13:30
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