SV Werder Bremen ended a run of seven defeats in a row on Saturday afternoon as they battled to a 0-0 draw against a Europe-chasing Bayer Leverkusen side. The Green-Whites put on a gripping, committed performance against the ‘Werkself’, who arrived at the wohninvest WESERSTADION with a clear will to win. Following 90 minutes of hard-fought football, a compact defensive display from Werder earned an important point as the Bundesliga season approaches its end.
Line-up and formation: Head coach Florian Kohfeldt made just one change for the match against Bayer 04 Leverkusen compared to the side that started in the semi-final of the DFB-Pokal against RB Leipzig. Following Manuel Mbom’s knee ligament strain picked up on Friday evening’s cup defeat, Leonardo Bittencourt was rotated into the starting XI. Marco Friedl didn’t recover in time for the match, Milot Rashica was on the bench following his comeback from an adductor problem.
Starting XI: Pavlenka, Augustinsson, Selke, Bittencourt, Füllkrug, Veljkovic, Moisander, Sargent, Gebre Selassie, Eggestein, Groß
Substitutes: Zetterer, Möhwald, Rashica, Osako, Agu, Schmid, Erras, Dinkci, Bargfrede
First half highlights:
3rd minute: The first chance goes the way of the visitors as Leverkusen work the ball into the Werder box with good passing play before Kerem Demirbay fires wide of the target.
4th minute: Leonardo Bittencourt lines up a shot from distance but sees his long-range effort blocked by a defender.
11th minute: The ‘Werkself’ advance down the right and the ball is whipped across to Leon Bailey. He lines up a shot but Niklas Moisander throws himself in front of it to block. Great defending!
26th minute: Ludwig Augustinsson dribbles down the right before crossing to Niclas Füllkrug, who is in space. The striker rises to meet it with his head but cannot direct the ball on target.
33rd minute: Leverkusen have control of the game but cannot work their possession into clear-cut opportunities. Leon Bailey picks up the ball and bears down on the Werder goal, but Jiri Pavlenka makes a good reflex stop with his legs to deny the Jamaica international.
35th minute: Karim Bellarabi receives the ball and squares the ball across goal for Florian Wirtz. The 18-year-old has the simplest of tasks to tap into the empty net and thinks he has scored the opener, but the celebrations are brought to a halt by the linesman’s flag.
43rd minute: Leon Bailey beats his man on the wing and floats a ball across to Patrik Schick, who misses the target with his effort.
Second half highlights:
48th minute: Niclas Füllkrug nods the ball onto Davie Selke who tests Lukás Hrádecky with a fierce drive, but the goalkeeper is up to the task and saves well.
51st minute: Chance for Davie Selke! The striker charges through and fires an attempt narrowly wide of the post, but the linesman’s flag is up and it wouldn’t have counted anyway.
56th minute: Leonardo Bittencourt wins a corner and takes it himself, planting it on the head of Niclas Füllkrug who heads it on to the far post where Davie Selke is inches from getting the final touch on the ball to direct it home.
71st minute: Substitute Milot Rashica with good build-up play down the right as be beats his man and whips a cross back from the byline. It is just too high for Yuya Osako and Josh Sargent swings for it but cannot connect with the ball to get a shot away.
76th minute: The visitors break down the pitch and the ball is passed to Schick, but Milot Rashica gets back well and puts in a fantastic sliding tackle to rob the ball back. Brilliant defensive work from the forward!
82nd minute: Great save from Jiri Pavlenka! Aleksandar Dragovic crosses the ball to Wendell who hits a volley sweetly, but Werder’s ‘keeper gets down to make a superb stop from close range!
86th minute: A cross from the left goes over the head of Davie Selke and finds its way to substitute Eren Dinkci, but he is taken by surprise and cannot direct it goalwards.
90+4th minute: Straight red for Eren Dinkci. Werder are reduced to ten men with virtually the last kick of the game after Dinkci catches his man with a challenge from behind.
Conclusion: SV pick up an important point in the battle for Bundesliga survival. It was a hard-fought game over the 90 minutes and the Green-Whites held their own against a dominant Leverkusen side thanks to a compact defensive display. Werder also pushed forward well but were unable to finish the chances that they managed to create. Shortly before the final whistle, Eren Dinkci was shown a straight red card and will miss SVW’s next game away at FC Augsburg.
