Late defeat in final pre-season friendly

Strasbourg grab late winner against Werder – the match report for the second friendly

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There were some tough tackling in this friendly match (photo: W.DE).

Match Report

Saturday, 05.08.2023 / 20:30

Werder Bremen were the better team for large stretches of their second friendly vs. Strasbourg of the day. They took the lead through Jens Stage in the 34th minute after some aggressive pressing forced a mistake from the hosts. Habib Diallo equalised for Strasbourg in a second half marked by several hard fouls from the Ligue 1 side, as he latched onto a through ball before levelling the scores. A hint of misfortune combined with a lack of concentration was the difference between a draw and defeat as Kevin Gameiro’s 86th-minute shot was turned in by Abakar Sylla past a helpless Jiri Pavlenka. However, Werder can be pleased with their performance.

Line-up and team news: Ole Werner named the following starting XI for the second friendly of the day:

Pavlenka – Jung, Stark, Pieper, Stage, Ducksch, Kownacki, Bittencourt, Füllkrug, Rapp, Opitz

Bench: Jakob Löpping of the U23s travelled with the squad as the a potential subsitute, but he never made it onto the pitch.

Compact in defence

Jens Stage running with the ball at his feet

Jens Stage scored the first goal of the second friendly (photo: WERDER.DE).

First-half highlights:

3’: Emegha is sent through and looks to be in a good position, but Pieper throws himself in front of the ball to clear it out of play. For a second, it looked like the early Strasbourg goal of the first game was about to repeat itself.

11’: Niklas Stark sends Niclas Füllkrug through with a lobbed pass in behind. He nods it on to Marvin Ducksch, but his eventual effort gets blocked.

12’: The resulting corner proves threatening to the Strasbourg defence. Jens Stage heads towards goal, with his attempt going just over the bar.

20’: Strasbourg have spent a fair amount of time in and around the Werder penalty box, but the Green-Whites have defended well and haven’t afforded their opponents many chances.

28’: There’ve not been any clear-cut chances at either end, and the majority of the game is taking place in midfield. Both teams are doing well in defence and not giving their opponents a sniff. Strasbourg have seen more of the ball, but their long-range efforts are being blocked without any major issues.

30’: Deminguet receives a yellow card for a foul on Leonardo Bittencourt. The resulting free kick finds Füllkrug who lays it square, but there is no one there to get on the end of it.

34’: Goal for Werder! The Strasbourg defence make a major error in their build-up play, and Jens Stage capitalises on that by intercepting the pass and firing into a near-empty net. We lead!

Late Strasbourg winner

Dawid Kownacki contests for the ball with Matz Sels

Matz Sels injured himself in a collision with Dawid Kownacki. (photo: WERDER.DE).

Second-half highlights:

46’: Leon Opitz gets chopped down by a sliding challenge, for which Habib Diallo only sees yellow. Opitz is able to continue after some treatment.

48’: Niclas Füllkrug is played in behind, and keeper Sels decides to stay in his goal. Under pressure from a Strasbourg defender, the striker’s effort goes past the far post.

58’: A long ball floats into the home side’s penalty box. Dawid Kownacki rises to try and get on it but ends up colliding with goalkeeper Sels. This causes our striker to bleed, and he required some treatment on the sidelines, but the Pole seems able to continue.

64’: Habib Diallo gets played in behind and dribbles briefly towards goal. The substitute then slots it past the onrushing Jiri Pavlenka to make it 1-1.

69’: After a corner is taken short, Dawid Kownacki finds himself on the ball 20 yards out and decides to have a hit. It’s a fierce shot that goes narrowly wide.

71’: Ismaël Doukouré goes in hard on a challenge on Füllkrug, who had actually already beaten his man. Doujouré is rightfully booked for the tackle. A few Werder players contest that the tackle was unnecessarily harsh.

86’: Gameiro controls the ball following a cross and decides to shoot. His effort is diverted in via the foot of Abakar Sylla to make it 2-1 to the home side. A tough one to take.

90’: The match is ended without any added time, meaning Werder lose 2-1 due to the late goal.

“It was the tough test we were looking for”

Summary: Werder did well for large parts of the game and didn’t present their opponents with many chances. They also put together some nice play in attack, but they were often lacking the final ball. It was a game that was rich with chances, however there were enough opportunities for Werder to win the game. The footballing aspect of the game was somewhat overshadowed by some bad fouls in the second half, which led to a scuffle between the two sides. At the end, it was Strasbourg who were able to celebrate the late winner.

Ole Werner on the game: “It was the tough test you want to have one week before the start of the season. The same goes for the atmosphere. We’ve been able to play in a proper stadium in front of fans again. There was enough intensity to the game, especially in terms of the challenges. In terms of our play, we made it a little difficult for ourselves with the ball in the first half. But then it got better. We got the opener thanks to some good pressing, and we timed our pressing patterns well. At the end of the day, you want to win every game you play. It would have been nice to finish pre-season unbeaten or to have come away with one win today. But to be honest, the result is not what’s important in pre-season.