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Werder beaten in Köln
MATCH REPORT FOLLOWING THE AWAY GAME AGAINST 1. FC KÖLN
12/04/26
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SV Werder Bremen suffered a defeat on the road this week, losing 3-1 away at 1. FC Köln. Goals from El Mala (7’), Ache (65’) and Jóhannesson (90+7’) sealed three points for the hosts, while an SVW side playing with ten men for most of the game got their only goal through a Romano Schmid penalty.
FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS1-0 down early on, Friedl shown straight red card
Head coach Daniel Thioune was forced into a change to his starting XI due to Cameron Puertas’ suspension following a fifth yellow card of the season. Yukinari Sugawara came into the line-up at right-back, while the rest of the line-up remained unchanged from the home game against Leipzig. Tactically, however, Werder made an adjustment: with Sugawara slotting in at full-back, Felix Agu pushed further forward to operate on the wing, joining Justin Njinmah and Marco Grüll in a three-man attacking line.
The game got going quickly. Just five minutes in, most of the 50,000 fans inside a sold-out RheinEnergieStadion were on their feet after Olivier Deman caught Isak Jóhannesson inside the penalty area. Referee Tobias Reichel had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, and Said El Mala converted to give the hosts an early lead (7’).
Werder initially struggled to respond and took time to settle into the game. Long-range efforts from Marco Grüll (14’) and Senne Lynen (21’) failed to trouble Marvin Schwäbe in the Köln goal, while at the other end, Deman produced a crucial last-ditch challenge to deny Jan Thielmann (22’).
The key moment came in the 24th minute, when Werder were reduced to ten men. A loose pass from Leonardo Bittencourt was intercepted by Ache near the halfway line, and as he knocked the ball past Marco Friedl, the Werder captain slipped and brought the striker down. Reichel showed a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, and the decision was upheld following a VAR review.
Köln immediately looked to make their numerical advantage count and increased the pressure. Sugawara cleared a threatening headed effort from Cenk Özkacar (36’), while Mio Backhaus produced an excellent performance between the sticks, denying efforts from Jóhannesson (41’), El Mala (42’), Thielmann (42’) and Ache (45+3’). Despite his heroics, Werder went into the break trailing narrowly.
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SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTSAche and Jóhannesson put game out of sight despite Schmid penalty
The second half had barely begun when the ball was in the net again for Köln. Substitute Alessio Castro-Montes finished well following a breakaway (46’), but the goal was ruled out for a marginal offside in the build-up.
Werder’s first chance after the break came from a set piece. A cleared corner fell to Lynen, who had dropped into the back line following Friedl’s dismissal, and his deflected strike from around 40 yards out forced a superb save from Marvin Schwäbe (52’).
Just as the game appeared to settle down, Köln struck again. Castro-Montes whipped a corner into the six-yard box, where Özkacar won the initial header, striking the post with his effort. Ache reacted quickest to the rebound – Backhaus made an excellent initial save, but was powerless to prevent the striker from converting at the second attempt to make it 2-0 (65’).
Romano Schmid pulled his side back into the game with a little under a quarter of an hour of normal time to play. Ache brought Deman down in the penalty area, and after a VAR review, the referee awarded a spot-kick, which the Austria international coolly converted (76’).
Moments after the goal, Werder received a stroke of luck when Köln substitute Luca Waldschmidt (77’) struck the crossbar from 16 yards out.
A frantic closing phase followed, with Backhaus called into action repeatedly to keep his side in the contest. He produced excellent saves to deny Waldschmidt (89’), Marius Bülter (90+1’) and Eric Martel (90+4’), but could not prevent Jóhannesson’s finish in stoppage time (90+7’). The match therefore ended in a 3-1 defeat for SV Werder Bremen.
Werder will be back in action on Saturday, 18th April 2026, at 15:30 CEST, when they host Hamburger SV at the Weserstadion for the Nordderby.
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match Statistics
1. FC Köln: Schwäbe – Sebulonsen (86’ Krauß), Simpson-Pusey, Özkacar, Lund (46’ Castro-Montes) – Jóhannesson, Martel – Thielmann (67’ Maina), Kaminski – Ache (76’ Waldschmidt), El Mala (67’ Bülter)
SV Werder Bremen: Backhaus – Sugawara (46’ Coulibaly), Pieper, Friedl, Deman – Schmid, Lynen, Bittencourt (85’ Milošević) – Grüll (46’ Musah), Njinmah, Agu (79’ Schmidt)
Goals: 1-0 El Mala (7’, pen), 2-0 Ache (65’), 2-1 Schmid (76’, pen), 3-1 Jóhannesson (90+7’)
Bookings: Ache, Simpson-Pusey, Martel / Bittencourt, Pieper
Red card: Friedl (24’)
Referee: Tobias Reichel
Attendance: 50,000 (sold out)
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