SVW and KSC can’t be separated on Delaney’s debut

Line-up: Just like he lined up his players in the final Bundesliga game of 2016, Alexander Nouri again tested a back-three in the first clash of 2017. Michael Zetterer started in goal, with his three-man defence in front of him being made up of Lamine Sané, Santiago García and U23s player Jesper Verlaat. Thomas Delaney occupied the holding midfield role next to captain Clemens Fritz. Robert Bauer and youngster Luca Zander provided width, while Niklas Schmidt was deployed behind the strikers and was therefore the “1” in Nouri’s 3-4-1-2 formation. Up front, Johannsson was partnered by Claudio Pizarro.

After a half-an-hour delay, the game kicked off and it was the Green-Whites who started the game better. However, Nouri’s men went into the break behind thanks to a Valentino Vujinovic goal in the 34th minute. Pizarro had the Green-Whites' best chance of the first period but fired wide from a tight angle with his right foot.

In the second half, Johannsson came close to equalising in the 70th minute but was denied by the post. Eight minutes before the final whistle however, the American made no mistake, as he headed in a deserved equaliser from a Thomas Delaney cross. SVW’s new signing grabbed an assist to cap off a good appearance in a Werder shirt. In the final moments, Johannes Eggestein almost nicked it for Bremen, but just couldn’t stretch enough at the far post to get on the end of Kainz’ corner.