Just unbelievable! Thanks to an 88th minute goal, SV Werder Bremen defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 and, in doing so, secured safety and Bundesliga football next season. Leaping ahead of Frankfurt in a true relegation battle avoided the possibility of both direct relegation and playing in the relegation play-offs against Nürnberg.
Line-up and formation: Fin Bartels' yellow card in the game against Köln meant that he wasn’t allowed to play against Eintracht and was therefore replaced in the starting line-up by Maximilian Eggestein. That was the only change from the team that drew last weekend. The coach went with the trusty 4-1-4-1 formation, once again led by Claudio Pizarro.
Match highlights:
2’ The game gets going right from the start as Djakpa’s corner finds Ben-Hatira, whose header is just tipped round the post by Wiedwald.
7’ Pizarro inches away from connecting with an Öztunali cross! Werder are looking hungry here.
20’ Unbelievable save from Wiedwald! The Green-White keeper makes his second important save of the day as Hasebe’s low shot looks destined for the corner, but Felix gets a touch to send it over the bar!
28’ Pizarro with another chance but he sends Gebre Selassie’s cross wide with a header.
31’ Junuzovic sends a free kick from a dangerous position just over!
45+1’ Half time and it’s all square at the Weser-Stadion. What can Skripnik and Co. come up with in the second half?
63‘ Junuzovic so close to opening the scoring! Öztunali breaks free down the left and plays in Juno at the back post but he fluffs his lines and scuffs it wide! Huge chance there.
74’ Ujah, who has been on the pitch for just a few minutes, fires goalwards from a tight angle but Hradecky deflects it back into play and it’s clear.
81’ Yildirim, also only just on the pitch, works a chance but it is deflected just wide.
88’ GOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLL! Juno sends in a corner, it’s headed to the back post by Pizarro, touched back into the middle by Ujah and then pushed over the line by Djilobodji! Scenes!
90+4’ Werder hold on and the final whistle is blown! Unbelievable – Werder stay up!
Summary: Werder didn’t let the good form of the opponents get the better of them and played confidently. Bremen kept the ball well and got stuck into the challenges. Goalkeeper Wiedwald kept them in the game at least twice before the interval and the team kept creating chances right up until the end. The goal had been coming for a while, you felt, and it came at exactly the right time. A great achievement by the Green-Whites, after looking down and out, but we’ve done it and we will go again next in – in the BUNDESLIGA!
