Werder lose their crucial away game to SC Freiburg 1-0. Ex-Werder man Nils Petersen scored the host's only goal from the penalty-spot in the 24th minute, which proved to be the decisive goal between the two sides. In a hard-fought match, things just didn't come off for Werder as they failed to break down a resolute Freiburg defence. Shortly before the end, Janik Haberer missed a second Freiburg penalty after his shot clipped the outside of the post.
Line-up and formation: Head coach Florian Kohfeldt had no reason to change the side that won 3-1 against Wolfsburg last weekend. However, the muscle problem that Zlatko Junuzovic suffered forced him into a change. Therefore Thomas Delaney came back into the starting XI, while Ishak Belfodil returned to be an attacking option for Kohfeldt on Werder's bench. Tactically Werder started the game in a 4-1-4-1 formation with Bargfrede sitting in front of the defence and Kruse up top.
7th minute: A cagey start in Freibuurg. Werder with the better of the possession but Freiburg afford them little room.
20th minute: Still waiting for the first real moment of quality from either side. Meanwhile, the snow is coming down hard, making it that bit harder to play the ball around.
24th minute: Goal for Freiburg, Nils Petersen scores a penalty. Aron Johannsson makes contact with Marco Terrazzino. The ex-Werder man makes him pay for his mistake sending Pavlenka the wrong was.
35th minute: The Green-Whites have got to show their fight now. Amir Abrashi comes in hard on Philipp Bargfrede in the middle of the park and the temperature inside the stadium rises. A deserved yellow comes out for the Freiburg man.
45th minute: A frustrating first half for the Werder players, who have been unsuccessful in their attempts to break down a resolute Freiburg defence.
50th minute: First bit of good play in the second half. Ludwig Augustinsson takes the shot on with the inside of his boot from 20 metres out, his effort whistles past the post. More of that please!
64th minute: Werder have monopolised possession and are starting to play better going forward, trying to force the Freiburg defence into a mistake. Ishak Belfodil comes on for Max Eggestein in a positive change by Florian Kohfeldt.
72nd minute: Thomas Delaney with a cracker of an effort, which goes just over! It was a great attack by the Green-Whites, which cumulates in a sublime volley from Delaney. Shortly afterwards, Milot Rashica enters the field for Johannsson. Well played, Aron!
79th minute: Next chance for Werder! Niklas Moisander attacks the ball well from a corner, which Schwolow saves well.
87th minute: Haberer misses Freiburg’s second penalty. Milos Veljkovic connected with Petersen’s foot, bringing the forward down. Haberer steps up but his effort clips the outside of the post and goes out for a goal-kick. Shortly before a tussle between Christian Günther and Max Kruse in the Freiburg penalty area results in Kruse going down. There are appeals from the Werder players but the referee says no.
90th minute: That was the last of the action; there were four minutes added on but Freiburg’s defence stayed solid.
Conclusion: Both teams matched each other well and cancelled each other out going forward. Therefore, the game came down to individual errors and Werder committed more of them. In the second half, Werder came forward well but lacked that crucial pass in a game that was devoid of clear-cut chances. The players will have to move on and look forward to the next match, which is on 24th February at 18:30 CET against Hamburg back in the Weserstadion.
