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Werder lose in Freiburg despite late spell of pressure
MATCH REPORT FOLLOWING THE GAME AWAY AT SC FREIBURG
07/02/26
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SV Werder Bremen will return north empty-handed after suffering a 1-0 defeat away at SC Freiburg. Niklas Beste scored the decisive goal after 13 minutes, and Werder spent much of the second half with a man advantage after Johan Manzambi was shown a straight red card.
FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
Beste strikes after Njinmah almost nets overhead kick
Keke Topp’s spectacular late equaliser to rescue a point in last weekend’s home game against Borussia Mönchengladbach clearly made an impression on his new boss. In his debut game at the helm of the Green-Whites, head coach Daniel Thioune named Werder’s number 9 in his starting XI to face SC Freiburg away from home. SVW looked to be playing with courage in what was a promising opening phase, but quickly found themselves knocked back at the Europa-Park Stadion.
After SC goalkeeper Noah Atubolu produced an impressive stop to deny Justin Njinmah an opener through an overhead kick, the hosts struck hard and fast on the counter. The ball eventually slid into the path of Niklas Beste, who cut in on his left foot before burying a strike into the top-left corner, with Mio Backhaus powerless to stop the fizzing effort (13’). Freiburg picked up momentum following their early success, with Mio Backhaus only just managing to keep out Igor Matanovic’s headed attempt to avoid a second goal for the home side in quick succession (17’).
The remainder of the first half looked like an evenly-matched affair, with Werder slightly edging out the Europa League contenders in terms of possession. Nevertheless, the Green-Whites just couldn’t quite create enough clear-cut chances in their attempts to level the score. After a tidy lay-off from Justin Njinmah, Topp managed to find himself one-on-one with Atubolu at a tight angle, although his low, driven shot only managed to whistle across the face of goal and go out for a throw-in (18'). The game took on a quieter character after that, not least as Freiburg started to withdraw into their own half and look for opportunities to break.
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SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS Manzambi sees red, Werder keep trying
The second half began with Werder quickly gaining a numerical advantage, following a studs-up challenge from Johan Manzambi on Olivier Deman. After referee Deniz Aytekin headed over to the monitor to check for serious foul play, he produced a red card to show to the midfielder, and SCF promptly went down to ten men (52’). Maximilian Eggestein almost doubled Freiburg’s lead shortly before the hour mark (58’), but the game then became a case of Werder trying time and again to find their equaliser.
Justin Njinmah bounded into space three minutes later to set up a one-on-one with Atubolu. Although the forward missed the target and had run onto the ball from an offside position either way, the chance marked the start of an eventful half hour in the final third for SVW. Samuel Mbangula almost volleyed in a Jens Stage cross (61’), although hit the attempt narrowly over the bar. Senne Lynen forced Freiburg’s keeper to parry a wayward cross that began to sneak its way toward goal, while Romano Schmid was also unable to beat Atubolu (72’).
Yuito Suzuki seemed to have made it two for the hosts late on, although the Japan international was judged to have pulled down a returning Felix Agu in the build-up, and the goal was struck off (78’). Werder kept the pressure on, although the team just couldn’t do enough to avoid defeat, with Keke Topp heading the last chance of the game over the crossbar following a corner delivery (90+5’). SVW are back in action next weekend, as they kick off at home against league leaders FC Bayern München at 15:30 CET on Saturday.
MATCH STATISTICS
SC Freiburg: Atubolu - Ogbus, Ginter, Rosenfelder, Günter (68' Makengo) - Eggestein, Osterhage (84' Scherhant) - Beste (68' Jung), Manzambi, Grifo (56' Suzuki) - Matanovic (84' Höler)
SV Werder Bremen: Backhaus - Malatini (62' Agu), Friedl, Coulibaly - Sugawara, Lynen (88' Milošević), Deman (62' Mbangula) - Stage, Schmid (84' Puertas) - Njinmah (84' Grüll), Topp
Goals: 1-0 Beste (13')
Yellow cards: Schuster / Friedl
Red cards: Manzambi (52', serious foul play)
Referee: Deniz Aytekin
Attendance: 34,700 (sold out)
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