Meet two newcomers
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Even winter signing Jovan Milosevic’s first goal could not end SV Werder Bremen’s crisis in the Bundesliga. The situation at Eintracht Frankfurt did not improve after the 3:3 (1:1) at the start of the second half of the season. Serbian Milosevic scored 16 minutes after coming on to make it 3-2 against Champions League participants Hesse. But Frankfurt’s Ansgar Knauff dashed Bremen’s hopes of securing their first win in six matches in added time.
The hosts held on even after falling behind twice thanks to goals from Frankfurt’s new recruit Arnaud Kalimuendo after 50 seconds and Nnamdi Collins (56th). Justin Njinmah (29th) and Jens Stage (78th) each equalized for the hosts – and looked victorious after Milosevic’s goal.
The draw in front of 41,800 spectators helps neither Bremen in the relegation battle nor Frankfurt in the fight for a place in the European Cup. The Hessians, defensively vulnerable, once again conceded three goals.
Werder with the same composition, Frankfurt with a change of system
Werder coach Horst Steffen showed confidence in the squad on the pitch at the start of Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund. His colleague Dino Toppmöller, however, was forced to change positions after the 2-3 defeat against VfB Stuttgart. Due to the injury of winter recruit and Storm prospect Younes Ebnoutalib, he changed his system from 4-4-2 to 3-4-2-1 and brought in four new players.
Toppmöller’s forced change quickly paid off: after around 50 seconds the ball was in the Bremen goal. Kalimuendo – Frankfurt’s second winter striker – got the better of Bremen defender Amos Pieper and lifted the ball into the net after a pass from Nathaniel Brown to Werder goalkeeper Mio Backhaus.
The hosts needed time to deal with the early shock. For a long time, too little happened. The Frankfurt team focused on stabilizing their recently unstable defense and fell behind. It worked at first.
Werder’s Njinmah is difficult to remember
Only the fast Njinmah escaped them. Although the Werder striker narrowly missed the goal after a 20th-minute counterattack, he went one better nine minutes later after a superb pass from Yukinari Sugawara and ended Bremen’s goal drought after three games. Werder’s strongest pressure phase has begun. The visitors barely left their own half and Bremen controlled the match more and more. The opportunities were simply rare.
Werder continued to push after the break and combined impressively at times. The Bremen team was superior. It was all the more surprising when the guests regained the lead – with the kind help of the Werder defense. Collins (56th) took advantage of the hosts’ mistake during the preparation for the match and turned the situation around.
Werder were not impressed this time and continued to play forward. It was once again Njinmah (68th) who missed the biggest opportunity by narrowly missing the ball when he was alone. The Bremen team did not give up and equalized thanks to Stage (78th). Two minutes later, Milosevic, on loan from Stuttgart, showed up in style, scoring a goal in his first home game for Werder. Knauff ended up spoiling the party in Bremen.
