SV Werder Bremen celebrated a dramatic 2-1 victory over Holstein Kiel at the Weserstadion on Saturday evening. Jens Stage put the hosts in front with an excellent long-range strike, but the Storks came out of the break strong and levelled things up through Phil Harres. It looked like the points would be shared, until a 90th-minute header from substitute Oliver Burke snatched a first home win of the season for the Green-Whites.
Team news: Mitchell Weiser was unavailable following his red card away at Borussia Mönchengladbach last weekend. That meant Derrick Köhn came into the team on the left flank. There was also a return for Jens Stage after he missed the last three games through an injury picked up against Freiburg, and he replaced Leo Bittencourt. Ole Werner also opted for Anthony Jung and Milos Veljkovic alongside captain Marco Friedl in the back-three instead of Julian Malatini and Amos Pieper, who dropped to the bench.
Starting XI: Zetterer - Veljkovic, Friedl, Jung - Agu, Lynen, Köhn - Stage, Schmid - Njinmah, Ducksch
Bench: Backhaus - Deman, Stark, Pieper, Bittencourt, Burke, Malatini, Alvero, Topp
First-half highlights:
5th minute: Jens Stage is wasting no time making an impact on his return. Schmid makes a good run to the byline and finds the Dane with his cross, but he doesn’t make the cleanest of contacts and sends the ball high and wide.
12th minute: That should have been the opener! Köhn’s cross is perfect for Ducksch inside the six-yard box. He should only need to put his header on target, yet somehow Weiner reacts in time to push the ball over the bar for a corner.
23rd minute: The visitors threaten the Werder goal for the first time. Harres beats Friedl to fire a ball in from the left, but Lynen is there to clear at the far post.
33rd minute: Kiel come forward again. The Green-Whites fail to clear a corner, and Remberg’s effort is deflected narrowly over.
36th minute: Werder take the lead! The Green-Whites win the ball in Kiel’s half and Stage tries his luck from outside the box. His sublime curling effort leaves the goalkeeper with no chance!
39th minute: Stage is involved again as Schmid turns in his cross from the right at the back post. Unfortunately though, VAR rules the goal out for a handball by the Austrian.
Second-half highlights:
48th minute: The visitors start the second half with intent and Harres buries an equaliser past Zetterer from around 20 yards out.
62nd minute: Werder finally manage to threaten in the Kiel box. Njinmah finds Ducksch, whose shot is blocked behind.
69th minute: Harres gets on the end of a through ball and is in one-on-one, but Zetterer comes out and makes himself big to keep the scores level.
80th minute: Werder come close this time! Roared on by the fans, Topp fires a cross into the middle. Bittencourt climbs to meet the ball, but is leaning back and can’t quite get the direction he needs.
87th minute: Zetterer makes two superb saves to deny Arp! The Werder keeper gets down quickly to prevent the substitute from putting the away side ahead.
90th minute: Unbelievable scenes! Burke gets up perfectly to head home a Topp cross and put Werder ahead! It’s the Scotsman’s first goal of the season.
90th minute +4: The final whistle goes at the Weserstadion, and we finally have our first home win of the season!
Summary: The Green-Whites set out to show a reaction following last week's heavy defeat in Mönchengladbach, and they achieved that in the first half. While Ducksch was somehow kept out by Weiner, the returning Stage demonstrated his value to the team with an excellent goal to put Werder ahead at the break. Kiel looked stronger in the second 45 and deserved their leveller, but Ole Werner's side refused to give up and a weight was lifted off their shoulders at the end with Burke's header to secure a long awaited first home win.
SV Werder: Zetterer - Veljkovic, Friedl (77' Stark), Jung - Agu, Lynen, Köhn (88' Deman) - Stage (46' Bittencourt), Schmid - Njinmah (66' Topp), Ducksch (77' Burke)
Holstein Kiel: Weiner - Ivezic, Erras, Geschwill - Becker, Gigovic (62' Porath), Knudsen, Remberg, Puchacz (72' Machino) - Harres (85' Arp), Skrzybski (72' Holtby)
Goals: 1-0 Stage (36'), 1-1 Harres (48'), 2-1 Burke (89')
Referee: Sören Storks
Attendance: 42,100 (sold out)
