Ten-man Werder knocked out by late goal in Bielefeld | OneFootball

Werder squandered good chances, while Bielefeld grew into the game after the red card (Photo: W:DE).

1-0 defeat in DFB-Pokal first-round tie

SV Werder Bremen were knocked out in the first round of the DFB-Pokal on Friday night. In a sold-out SchücoArena, the Green-Whites were defeated 1-0 by 2. Bundesliga leaders Arminia Bielefeld. After Leonardo Bittencourt was shown a second yellow (57’), the run of play changed in favour of the hosts, and Isaiah Young took advantage to grab a last-minute winner (90+3’).

Line-up and formation: After pre-season, it was no surprise to see Horst Steffen set his team out in a 4-2-3-1 shape. Patrice Covic made his first start for Werder, while Maximilian Wöber, who missed the 2-1 defeat in the friendly against Udinese Calcio, was match-fit in time for the game.

Starting XI: Zetterer - Stark, Bittencourt, Njinmah, Lynen, Grüll, Schmid, Covic, Agu, Friedl, Wöber.

Bench: Backhaus - Deman, Mbangula, Topp, Hansen-Aarøen, Malatini, Coulibaly, Opitz, Adeh.

Grüll and Njinmah come close

Grüll narrowly misses in the best chance of the first half (Photo: W.DE)

First-half highlights

14th min: The first big chance of the game comes for Werder! Njinmah lays the ball off to Grüll in the box, who fires across goal with his left foot and narrowly misses the far post.

21st min: Another good opportunity for SVW! Schmid slides the ball through to Njinmah, who struggles to control it and the chance fizzles out. The forward was offside, but in a first-round game with no VAR, a goal would have stood.

33rd min: Covic’s cross from the left flank falls to Agu, who can’t bring the ball down cleanly and the chance goes begging.

Second yellow shifts the momentum

Bittencourt saw red early on in the second half (Photo: W.DE).

Second-half highlights

54th min: Red card! Bittencourt catches Mehlem with a late challenge and shown a second yellow by the referee. Werder are down to ten men.

57th min: Bielefeld exploit a disorganised Werder defence, but a strong save from Zetterer denies Arminia the lead. The substitute Kania had the opportunity after flicking a cross from Corboz goalwards.

90th min +3: Bielefeld deliver a late blow. The hosts break away – and this time they take their chance. Ex-Werder forward Young has plenty of time at the back post, and he squeezes the ball into the bottom corner.

90th min +8: Full time. SV Werder Bremen exit the DFB-Pokal with a 1-0 defeat in Bielefeld. Next week sees Werder face Eintracht Frankfurt in their first Bundesliga game of 2025/26.

Summary: Werder needed to overcome Arminia in a fiery atmosphere at the SchücoArena. After the first 15 minutes, the Green-Whites grabbed hold of the game, stood their ground well and created two high-quality chances. In the second half, the red card shown to Bittencourt changed the state of play, and Bielefeld began to enjoy more space in possession. In added time, the hosts grabbed a last-minute winner on the break.

Match statistics

Arminia Bielefeld: Kersken - Lannert, Schneider, Großer, Handwerker (21’ Hagmann) - Russo - Sarenren Bazee (46’ Kania), Mehlem (79’ Young), Schreck, Corboz - Grodowski (79’ Boakye)

SV Werder Bremen: Zetterer - Agu, Stark, Friedl, Wöber (79’ Deman) - Bittencourt, Lynen - Njinmah (60’ Mbangula), Schmid, Covic (72’ Topp) - Grüll

Goals: 1-0 Young (90+3’)

Red cards: Bittencourt (54’)

Referee: Robert Hartmann

Attendance: 27,332 (sold-out)