5-2 pre-season win against Toulouse

Third win in third pre-season friendly

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Werder players celebrating a goal together.

SV Werder celebrated a big win against Toulouse FC (Photo: WERDER.DE).

Match Report

Saturday, 22.07.2023 / 18:05

SV Werder Bremen won 5-2 against Toulouse FC in the third friendly of pre-season on Saturday afternoon. A total of 1,600 spectators packed into the Parkstadion in Zell am Ziller for the match, with Mamady Bangré putting the French side ahead in the opening quarter of an hour (15’). Romano Schmid was able to equalise (36’), before Niclas Füllkrug put the Green-Whites ahead (50’). Ado Onaiwu levelled the scores once more (57’), before Füllkrug’s second of the day (73’) and a brace from Dawid Kownacki (62’, 82’) sealed a 5-2 win.

Team news: Head coach Ole Werner once again took the opportunity to give as many players as possible a chance to feature out on the pitch. He made wholesale changes at half-time, sending out 11 different players for the second half.

First half: Pavlenka – Jung, Stark, Stage, Ducksch, Bittencourt (C), Njinmah, Salifou, Schmid, Rapp and Burke.

Second half: Zetterer – Pieper, Kownacki, Füllkrug, Schmidt, Gruev, Woltemade, Friedl (C) (73’ Ihendu), Mbom, Opitz and Groß.

Schmid cancels out Toulouse’s opener

Niklas Stark duelling for the ball with a Toulouse player, while Leonardo Bittencourt runs towards them.

The first half featured several intense challenges (Photo: WERDER.DE).

First-half highlights:

15’: Toulouse open the scoring with their first chance of the game, through Mamady Bangré.

31’: Burke cuts the ball into the middle and finds Njinmah. His shot is too weak to pose a threat for the Toulouse goalkeeper.

35’: Ducksch sends Burke down the wing, who cuts the ball back to Bittencourt. His shot is saved.

36’: Romano Schmid sends a shot into the back of the net from the edge of the box to draw level.

High-scoring second half

Dawid Kownacki celebrates scoring a goal.

Kownacki scored his first brace for Werder (Photo: W.DE).

Second-half highlights:

50’: Penalty to Werder after a foul on Opitz! Füllkrug smashes the ball into the top left corner to put the Green-Whites ahead.

53’: Füllkrug’s shot bounces off the underside of the bar and away from goal, as Toulouse are able to clear it.

57’: Ado Onaiwu equalises for Toulouse after heading in a cross.

62’:Friedl is able to get a head to a corner from Schmidt, but the goalkeeper is able to pick it out of the air.

62’: Gruev’s corner finds its target in the box as Kownacki heads the Green-Whites back in front.

73’: Mbom is fouled on the edge of the box, as the referee awards Werder a free kick. Schmidt crosses the ball into the box, with Füllkrug scoring with a first-time effort.

82’: Füllkrug plays the ball to Woltemade, who lays it off for Kownacki. The striker slots home from the left side of the box to take the scoreline to 5-2.

Summary: After an evenly-matched first half, the second half saw Werder put in a solid defensive performance while also looking good in attack. Braces for both Füllkrug and Kownacki sealed a clear victory for the Green-Whites.

Post-match reaction:

Head coach Ole Werner: “Overall, I’m pleased with the level of intensity. We saw a very different game in both halves based on that. The first half featured a lot of intense duels from both teams. We struggled to find our way into the game, but improved as time went on. Unfortunately, we failed to make the most of our transitions and were forced to defend, because Toulouse were playing with a lot of pace. We started well into the second half and had more touches. In exchange, we didn’t have that much to deal with in defence. Overall, we were able to see a lot of what we’ve worked on in training in recent days.”

Dawid Kownacki: “We played well in the second half and scored four goals. It was a good challenge for us against the best team we’ve faced so far. I’m happy that we won. Every friendly is important to me; today I played together with Füllkrug for the first time. That was good for me. I’m glad to have scored, but it’s also only just a friendly - it will come down to also being able to do it when it counts.”