Werder fall short in their first home game of the year, and remain winless on home soil since the start of September. An unfortunate own goal sent the visitors into the lead halfway through the second period (65’), before securing a convincing 3-0 win over the Green Whites. Goals from Christoph Baumgartner (79’) and Sargis Adamyan (83’) eventually sealed the points for Hoffenheim.
Line up and formation: A sigh of relief for Kohfeldt and his men: Kevin Vogt managed to make a speedy recovery after the concussion suffered away at Düsseldorf last week and was deemed fit to start against his former club. However, Captain Niklas Moisander was unavailable due to suspension, with Milos Veljkovic replacing him in the side. The rest of the team remained unchanged.
Werder’s starting XI: Pavlenka, Toprak, Vogt, Veljkovic, Şahin, Bittencourt, M. Eggestein, Klaassen, Friedl, Sargent, Rashica
On the bench: Kapino, Groß, Langkamp, Bartels, J. Eggestein, Goller, Osako, Pizarro, Woltemade
The highlights from the first half:
13th minute: Former Hoffenheim man Vogt with a great chance against his old team. Rashica's free-kick cross finds him at the back post but his header is off target. Posch continues to threaten.
17th minute: A Klaassen error gifts the visitors an opportunity as his dodgy pass is picked up by Baumgartner, who plays in Kramaric. Thankfully, the forward can only find the side-netting.
18th minute: Kramaric comes close again, forcing a relatively comfortable save from Pavlenka from the edge of the area.
40th minute: Werder are made to wait for the next chance and it comes through Şahin. The midfielder collects the ball from Eggestein and takes it round Grillitsch but his effort from a tight angle is wide of the mark.
45th minute + 2: Half time and it's all to play for.
The highlights from the second half:
57th minute: Werder continue to look for the opener. Rashica picks up the ball and dribbles across the TSG penalty area, before laying it off for Maxi Eggestein, whose deflected strike travels narrowly wide of the post.
64th minute: Werder’s best chance of the game so far. Eggestein is played down the right hand side after some nice interplay between Bittencourt and Toprak; however Friedl’s effort from the resulting cross goes flying over the bar.
65th minute: Goal. 1-0 Hoffenheim. Davy Klaassen own goal. Werder fail to deal with the corner and a scramble in the box ends with the ball deflecting off Davy Klaassen and into his own net.
79th minute: Goal. 2-0 Hoffenheim. Christoph Baumgartner. The referee looks at his watch and gives the goal. Kramaric manages to work his way into the penalty area, before Bittencourt’s tackle falls into the path of Baumgartner, who cleverly back heels the ball into the goal.
83rd minute: Goal. 3-0 Hoffenheim. Sargis Adamyan. Another one for the visitors. Kramaric plays through Adamyan who makes no mistake with the finish.
90th minute + 2: Full time in Bremen. A poor second half comes to a close.
Match summary: Bremen started brightly and moved the ball around well against an opposition team that were sitting deep. Hoffenheim didn't look like troubling Kohfeldt's men until Klaassen's wayward pass gave Kramaric a golden opportunity to take the lead (17'). Likewise, Vogt's early header (13') was Werder's only real chance in the first half and the team struggled to find a way through their opponents' 5-3-2 defensive formation.
The hosts came out of the blocks strongly in the second half and started to work a few opportunities of their own. However, their weakness in defending set pieces led to their downfall once again, and the visitors took advantage, securing a convincing victory in the end.
