SV Werder Bremen secured their second point of the 24/25 campaign on matchday 2 after their clash against Borussia Dortmund ended goalless in front of a sold-out home crowd of 42,100. Despite putting in a strong performance throughout, SVW were unable to reap the rewards of their hard work against the Black-Yellows, who were forced down to ten men following a red-card offence from Nico Schlotterbeck (73’).
Line-up and formation: Anthony Jung returned to Werder’s starting XI after Milos Veljkovic was forced to sit out with foot problems, with Justin Njinmah also listed in the line-up to replace Keke Topp. After not yet completing a training session with the Green-Whites, new signing Derrick Köhn, who only arrived from Galatasaray on Friday, was not involved in the meeting with Borussia Dortmund.
Werder’s starting XI: Zetterer - Jung, Stark, Stage, Ducksch, Weiser, Njinmah, Lynen, Schmid, Agu and Friedl.
Bench: Backhaus - Deman, Bittencourt, Burke, Grüll, Hansen-Aarøen, Malatini, Alvero and Topp.
First-half highlights:
11th minute: Schmid cuts it back from the byline to Njinmah, who fires the ball directly at Kobel, but he can't keep it controlled. The rebound falls kindly to Stage, yet his effort flies just shy of the right post. The flag is raised regardless to signal offside.
33rd minute: Groß’s free-kick finds Süle, who nods it towards the Werder goal, yet Lynen is able clear the danger.
43rd minute: The ball finds a well-positioned Ducksch just outside the Dortmund box, who powers a half volley down the middle, but Kober is able to catch it with ease.
Second-half highlights:
59th minute: Dortmund’s Adeyemi beats Lynen one-on-one before pulling the trigger, but Zetterer’s rapid reflexes see the ball successfully pushed behind for a corner.
73rd minute: Ducksch spots Njinmah’s run and feeds him in, with the youngster hurtling forward on his first touch. Schlotterbeck brings him down in an attempt to cease the Werder attack, which soon backfires, as the Dortmund defender is handed his second yellow of the afternoon.
90th minute +4: Full time! SVW share the spoils with Borussia Dortmund following a 0-0 draw at the Weserstadion.
Summary: Despite having less of the possession, the Green-Whites appeared to settle into the game well and created a similar number of chances to their opponents in the first 45. The hosts came out the traps firing after the break and continued their battle for an opener, yet were unable to find the back of the net, even with the added help of a numerical advantage.
