Green-Whites defeated by Wolfsburg

Match report from the 2-0 loss against VfL Wolfsburg

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Werder were unable to create anything from their set pieces (Photo: nordphoto).

Match Report

Saturday, 30.03.2024 / 17:45

On Saturday afternoon, SV Werder Bremen fell to a 2-0 defeat against VfL Wolfsburg at the wohninvest WESERSTADION. The first half remained goalless up until added time, where Lacroix opened the scoring for the visitors (45’ +4). Werder also headed into the break a man down after Anthony Jung was handed a straight red card for a foul on Behrens (44’). Wolfsburg then put their foot on the gas and seized control of the second half, doubling their lead in the 84th minute through Majer to put the game to bed.

Line-up and formation: Justin Njinmah was absent from the matchday 27 clash due to injury, while Jens Stage, Mitchell Weiser and Senne Lynen were all suspended. After represening Austria over the March international break, Romano Schmid completed his suspension and made a direct return to Werder’s starting XI. Leonardo Bittencourt and Felix Agu were also back in the Green-Whites' line-up for Saturday’s game.

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

Bench: Pavlenka, Pieper, Keïta, Hansen-Aarøen, Malatini, Imasuen, Opitz, Groß, Röcker.

Jung sent off, Wolfsburg open the scoring

Agu was a key member of Werder's attack against VfL (Photo: norphoto).

First-half highlights:

11th minute: Wolfsburg almost open the scoring after Zesiger’s corner is met by Deman, who nods it onto his own crossbar, before the ball drops and is cleared for a corner. Phew!

30th minute: It’s Werder’s turn now. Deman’s effort is cleared by a Wolfsburg defender, but the ball falls to Ducksch, who plays in Woltemade to his left. The youngster fires a low effort at the visitors’ net, but Pervan gets low and denies SVW their opener.

44th minute: Anthony Jung is handed a red card by referee Sascha Stegemann for a foul on Behrens. Wolfsburg are awarded a free kick from the edge of the box as a result, which thankfully hits the Green-White wall.

45th minute +4: Maxence Lacroix opens the scoring for the visitors. Baku’s corner reaches the Frenchman at the back post, who hits it first time into the bottom left corner.

Majer steps up for VfL

Werder's defence struggled to hold off the strong Wolfsburg attack (Photo: nordphoto).

Second-half highlights:

66th minute:VfL combine through SVW’s back line, and Majer is one-on-one with Zetterer, but our number 30 gets down quickly and extends his leg to deny the visitors their second.

76th minute: Maxence Lacroix is handed a straight card after fouling Schmid, and both sides are down to ten men!

83rd minute: Zetterer is left helpless as the ball rolls towards Werder’s net, but Agu is on hand to clear it off the line!

84th minute: Heartbreak for Werder as Lovro Majer lobs Zetterer and finds the net to double Wolfsburg’s lead.

90th minute +5: Full-time. SV Werder Bremen lose 2-0 at home to VfL Wolfsburg.

Summary: After battling hard for the full 90 minutes, Werder came away from the clash empty-handed, despite the fact that both sides went down to ten men. Wolfsburg rose to the occasion and made better use of their chances, allowing them to deservedly picked up all three points from the meeting.