SV Werder Bremen ended the year with a 4-1 win at home against 1. FC Union Berlin. Two quickfire goals from Marco Grüll (13', 17') put the Green-Whites on course for victory in the first half. Andras Schäfer was able to get one back for the visitors (23'), before Mitchell Weiser (45') and Jens Stage (87') helped round off a convincing victory for SVW.
Line-up and formation: Head coach Ole Werner named an unchanged starting line-up following last weekend's 2-0 win at St. Pauli. Patrice Covic from the U19s was included in the first-team matchday squad for the first time.
Starting line-up: Zetterer - Jung, Stark, Stage, Ducksch, Weiser, Lynen, Grüll, Köhn, Schmid, Friedl.
Subs: Backhaus - Deman, Pieper, Veljkovic, Burke, Malatini, Alvero, Nankishi, Covic.
First-half highlights:
8th minute: A hot start from Ducksch! The striker hammers a shot towards the top corner after winning possession inside the area, with the ball going just over the bar.
13th minute: Werder lead! A picture-perfect cross from Schmid finds Grüll inside the box, as the striker rises highest to head in the opener for the Green-Whites.
18th minute: Köhn gets the ball on the left side, and has the vision to spot Grüll waiting near the top of the box. Our number 17 takes aim and slots a shot straight into the back of the net to round off his brace.
23rd minute: Schäfer gets one back for Union. Rothe has the space to drive down the left flank and deliver a cross to the back post, where Schäfer is able to convert from close range.
45th minute: Weiser nets a third for SVW! Köhn does well again to bring the ball up via the left-hand side, cutting it into the six-yard box. Weiser slides to meet it, and puts it past Rönnow to restore Werder's two-goal advantage.
Second-half highlights:
49th minute: A good opportunity for the hosts, as Skarke looks to get the ball to Hollerbach. His attempt is blocked by the Werder backline and falls to Skarke's feet again. As a result, he's able to pop up unmarked in front of Zetterer – fortunately; his shot goes wide of the right post.
64th minute: Skarke is able to get off a shot from the edge of the box, but it goes just over the bar.
75th minute: Union's Querfeld take aim from range, forcing Zetterer to dive to parry his shot away from danger.
87th minute: Stage puts the game to bed! After receiving the ball from Schmid, Ducksch drives towards goal. Instead of taking aim himself, however, our number 7 instead squared it to Stage, who only needed to extend his foot to tap in Werder's fourth goal of the afternoon.
90th minute +9: It's all over at the Weserstadion! SVW head into the winter break on a run of three straight wins in the Bundesliga.
Summary: After storming out to a 2-0 lead, Werder saw their lead reduced to one goal after Schäfer found the back of the net for the visitors. Weiser then restored their old two-goal advantage on the stroke of half time, giving the Green-Whites the momentum they needed to get the result over the line. The hosts defended their lead in the second half, allowing the Berliners to have more of the ball. Stage's goal in the closing stages then put the game to bed, as Werder managed to take maximum points from their last three league games.
SV Werder: Zetterer - Stark (90'+2 Malatini), Friedl, Jung (87' Veljkovic) - Weiser, Lynen (90'+2 Alvero), Köhn (87' Deman) - Schmid, Stage - Grüll (73' Burke), Ducksch
1. FC Union Berlin: Rönnow - Doekhi, Querfeld, Leite - Trimmel (46' Juranovic), Schäfer (71' Tousart), Khedira (71' Kemlein), Rothe - Skov (46' Skarke), Vertessen (79' Prtajin) - Hollerbach
Goals: 1-0 Grüll (13'), 2-0 Grüll (18'), 2-1 Schäfer (23'), 3-1 Weiser (45'), 4-1 Stage (87')
Referee: Florian Exner
Spectators: 42,100 (sold out)
