Werder didn’t miss many of the chances they had against Augsburg. From five shots in the first half, the Green-Whites turned three into goals and had Jiri Pavlenka to thank at the other end of the pitch. “It was a bit lucky,” said Maximilian Eggestein after the game. Werder saw the game out well in the second half: “That was really intelligent,” said Florian Kohfeldt.
Niklas Moisander: “It doesn’t often happen that we win by so many. It was more difficult today than the scoreline suggests. Augsburg had chances that we should have defended better. We started perfectly and that was important, because it made it easier.”
Maximilian Eggestein: “The game wasn’t as clear as the results suggests, especially in the first half. Augsburg could have scored one or two goals and we could’ve gone in with it 3-2 at half time. We didn’t defend well there, but we had a bit of luck and Pavlas saved twice in one-on-one situations. The second half was more commanding.”
Kevin Möhwald: “It wasn’t our best performance in terms of play, we know that. The result is misleading, but we took our chances.”
Milot Rashica: “We started well, scored early and built on it. We controlled the game. We worked on that in training.”
Johannes Eggestein: "It wasn't as easy as it looked in the end, but it was really nice to give something back to the fans on a day like this. We played well and deserved to win."
Florian Kohfeldt: “I have massive respect for how focussed the boys were on the plan today, and it worked well. Augsburg are strong at pressing and we expected it so had three men in midfield, so counter-attacking was important for us today. After Milot went off, Augsburg pushed forward a bit more as they weren’t afraid of his pace. We were on the back foot for a while, but Pavlas came out on top twice. For me as the coach, the nicest thing was seeing how well we played out the second half. We defended convincingly, and didn’t let them break us down or win the second ball. I’m proud of that.”
Maximilian Eggestein: “It’s difficult to say whether it’s a learning process. We showed the effectiveness that we’ve been missing this week. We’ll definitely take that, but we have to prove it further.”
Kevin Möhwald: “We’ve always been working on our chance conversion, it kind of makes it automatic. It was a first step in the right direction, but we’ll see in the next few weeks whether it was a learning process. We have to prove it.”
Florian Kohfeldt: “We can work on chance conversion. The boys have worked on it. We can be pleased, but it has to go further. When you think that it’s just automatic, that’s your first mistake.”
Niklas Moisander: “It was a long week. The Tifo today was impressive, we dared to look away from the game. It’s great that we could give them the victory today. I’m proud to play for this team.”
Maximilian Eggestein: “We knew what was riding on the game today, especially because of the birthday, the fan march and the table. That provided motivation for us. The win was a nice end, and it had to be after the Nürnberg game. We had something to put right.”
Kevin Möhwald: “It’s always a special atmosphere here in the Weserstadion, but the fans took it up a level today. It’s great that we could give something back to them today.”
Milot Rashica: “It was a massive week with the win against Dortmund and the important victory today.”
Florian Kohfeldt: “It was a very good and successful week with two highlights and a below-par start in Nürnberg. We can’t disregard this. It we’d have won there, it would have been perfect. I had goosebumps with the atmosphere here today. I want to thank everyone who organised the Tifo, the fan march and the concert. You can see that Werder are a special club.”
Niklas Moisander: “We’re expecting a very difficult game. Hertha played unbelievably well against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Both of us are fighting for Europe. I think it’ll be a great, thrilling Bundesliga game.”
Florian Kohfeldt: “It was an important matchday for the table. We’ve moved up, but we have the worst starting position in tenth, even though there’s only three points to fifth place. It’s February, we’re in the quarter-final of the DFB-Pokal, and we have a realistic chance of the Europa League places. The club hasn’t been able to say that for a while. Let’s all pull together and go and get it.”
