Points shared in Werder’s final away game

Match report from the 1-1 draw against RB Leipzig

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Werder put Leipzig through their paces at the Red Bull Arena (Photo: W.DE).

Match Report

Saturday, 11.05.2024 / 17:29

SV Werder Bremen were able to bring home a point from their final away fixture of the season after the clash against RB Leipzig ended in a 1-1 draw on Saturday afternoon. SVW delivered a strong performance against the fourth-place side, and despite not finding the back of the net in their own right, the Green-Whites were rewarded for their efforts with an own goal from Nicolas Seiwald in the first half (35’). After the break, RBL turned up the heat and found their equaliser through Benjamin Sesko (61’), meaning that the spoils were shared for the first time between the two sides in the league at the Red Bull Arena.

Line-up and formation: Ole Werner decided to stick with the same starting XI from matchday 32’s draw against Gladbach for the clash against RB Leipzig, with Marco Friedl leading the pack as captain.

Werder’s starting XI: Zetterer, Jung, Ducksch, Weiser, Bittencourt, Veljkovic, Lynen, Schmid, Agu, Woltemade, Friedl.

Bench: Pavlenka, Deman, Stark, Stage, Kownacki, Hansen-Aarøen, Malatini, Groß.

Seiwald gifts Werder their opener

Marvin Ducksch against three opposition players.

Werder created more chances, but RBL held firm at the back (Photo: W.DE).

First-half highlights:

35th minute: SVW take the lead, courtesy of an own goal from Seiwald! Veljkovic delivers a cross into the middle where Woltemade is waiting to nod it home, but the Leipzig defender gets to it first and heads the ball into the back of his own net!

45th minute +4: Leipzig have their biggest chance of the game. Zetterer puts in a vital block against Simakan's strike, but the rebound falls directly to Poulsen. Leipzig's striker has a go, but his effort is denied by the body of the Werder keeper. Openda then tries his luck with a bicycle kick, but misses the net entirely. Phew.

Leipzig come out the traps firing

RBL put their foot on the gas in the second half, yet SVW continued to search for a way through (Photo: W.DE).

Second-half highlights:

46th minute: Exceptional work from Zetterer to deny RBL their equaliser! A Leipzig header hurtles towards the Werder net, but the number 30 springs into action and tips it over the bar.

61st minute: The hosts equalise. Simakan nods Seiwald’s cross into the box, and Sesko takes aim, before powering a volley into the top of the net.

65th minute: RBL take things up a notch and Elmas fires an effort in the direction of the SVW net, but Zetterer gets low and puts in a vital stop.

67th minute: Up the opposite end, Agu finds Ducksch in the middle, but Werder’s number 7 isn’t anticipating the pass and his left-footed effort misses the target.

90th minute +3: Deman delivers a cross into the box, which sees Stage rises highest to nod it towards the net, but Gulacsi gets a hand to it and denies Werder their second.

90th minute +5: Full-time. Werder’s meeting with Leipzig ends 1-1.

Summary: SV Werder Bremen rose to the occasion in the first half and created a far greater number of chances than the hosts, yet were unable to find the back of the net. Thankfully for the Green-Whites, an own goal saw the visitors head into the break with the advantage, but RBL flew out the blocks and responded to the deficit with an equaliser. Werder then proceeded to put Leipzig under the cosh in an attempt to score a winner, but their last-gasp efforts were denied by the RBL keeper and the game ended level.