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Werder narrowly beaten in Hoffenheim
MATCH REPORT FOLLOWING THE GAME AWAY AT TSG HOFFENHEIM
09/05/26
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SV Werder Bremen have lost their final away game of the season at TSG Hoffenheim, and will head back to Bremen empty-handed as a result. The Green-Whites, who had to play almost the entire match with ten men, were beaten 1-0 by their hosts. Touré scored the only goal of the game in the 26th minute.
FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTSSugawara sent off early as TSG punish mistake
Head coach Daniel Thioune made two changes to his side from the game against Augsburg. Alongside Justin Njinmah, Salim Musah began the game through the middle for the first time in a Bundesliga match for SVW. The maiden start marked yet another academy product making his XI debut for the Green-Whites this season.
Unfortunately, his outing lasted only a matter of minutes. Yukinari Sugawara was shown a red card in the 5th minute following a foul on Bazoumana Touré. Referee Sören Storks initially opted against the booking, but was called over to the monitor by VAR before issuing the dismissal order. For tactical reasons, Isaac Schmidt was introduced shortly afterwards in place of Musah.
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The early numerical disadvantage completely disrupted the Green-Whites’ game plan. SVW dropped deeper and looked to threaten on the counter-attack. TSG enjoyed plenty of possession, though clear-cut chances were initially few and far between. Fisnik Asllani (10’), Wouter Burger (13’) and Andrej Kramarić (25’) all failed to hit the target.
The hosts took the lead through a mistake at the back from SVW. Jens Stage miscontrolled a low pass from goalkeeper Mio Backhaus, gifting TSG a corner. Asllani took it quickly to Kramarić, who laid the ball off to Touré. Hoffenheim’s number 29 fired into the far corner to make it 1-0 (26’).
Werder, however, responded well. Romano Schmid picked out Olivier Deman, whose effort forced a save from Oliver Baumann (29’). Senne Lynen then fired the rebound over the bar. Less than a minute later, Njinmah dragged an effort wide from distance (30’). Njinmah and Schmid also failed to make the most of a promising counter-attack in the 34th minute.
There was late drama in the four minutes of added time before the break. Tim Lemperle missed a huge chance to double TSG’s lead when clean through on Backhaus (45’+1), before Njinmah hesitated too long in front of goal at the other end and was denied by a last-ditch challenge from Albian Hajdari (45’+2).
SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTSNjinmah misses chance to level the affair
The second half began with another scare for the Green-Whites. Lemperle met a cross with a header from five yards out, but sent his effort wide of the target (47’). Down the other end, Stage narrowly failed to connect with a Schmid delivery (49’) before Njinmah squandered a huge chance to level the affair. Deman threaded a perfectly weighted pass through the heart of the TSG defence to send Werder’s number 11 clean through on Germany international Oliver Baumann. However, Njinmah could only fire straight at the Hoffenheim goalkeeper in the one-on-one chance (50’).
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Hoffenheim then began to pile on the pressure once more and pinned Werder back deep inside their own half. Asllani narrowly missed the target at the back post (59’), substitute Alexander Prass was denied from distance by Backhaus (61’), while Burger’s delivery from the resulting corner struck the woodwork shortly after (61’).
SVW struggled to create attacking chances of their own over long spells of the 90 minutes. Set pieces looked the most likely route back into the game, though luck was not on Werder’s side. Cameron Puertas summed up the fortunes of the afternoon when his free-kick from 20 yards out sailed comfortably over the bar (68’).
As the second half progressed, the hosts continued to push for a second goal, but Werder’s well-organised defence prevented them from finding another breakthrough.
Then, in the 87th minute, there was late drama inside the TSG penalty area: Njinmah attempted to knock the ball past Hranac, and the ball struck the defender’s arm. SVW appealed for a penalty, but neither referee Sören Storks nor the VAR saw any reason to award a spot-kick. Despite Werder’s spirited performance, it remained 1-0 when the final whistle blew.
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Due to St. Pauli’s defeat in Leipzig at the same time, Werder can no longer drop into the automatic relegation places. Survival could also be mathematically secured on Saturday should VfL Wolfsburg fail to beat Bayern Munich.
SV Werder Bremen will round off the 2025/26 Bundesliga season with a home game. On Saturday, 16th May, the Green-Whites host Borussia Dortmund at the Weserstadion, with kick-off at 15:30 CEST.
Match statistics
TSG Hoffenheim: Baumann – Coufal, Kabak, Hajdari, Bernardo (71’ Hranac) – Avdullahu – Kramaric (89’ Hlozek), Burger – Lemperle (71’ Campbell), Asllani (89’ Prömel), Touré (57’ Prass)
SV Werder Bremen: Backhaus – Sugawara, Pieper, Friedl, Deman – Lynen – Njinmah, Stage (71’ Mbangula), Puertas, Schmid (71’ Grüll) – Musah (12’ Schmidt, 80’ Wöber)
Goals: 1-0 Touré (26’)
Yellow cards: Bernardo / Puertas, Njinmah, Thioune
Red cards: Sugawara (5’)
Referee: Sören Storks
Attendance: 28,128
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