Werder resurgence gathers pace in dominant victory over Union | OneFootball

It was a dream night in the capital for Daniel Thioune and his side, who ran out convincing winners with four different goalscorers completing the rout. The result marks Bremen’s biggest win of the season and lifts them out of the bottom three.

Both sides showed attacking intent from the outset. Leopold Querfeld attempted an acrobatic overhead kick that sailed wide for Union’s first effort, before Andrej Ilić tested Mio Backhaus moments later with a half-volley that the Bremen goalkeeper dealt with comfortably.

Union were handed a golden opportunity to take the lead with just over 15 minutes played when they were awarded a penalty. Bremen were furious with the decision, convinced the initial contact occurred outside the area as Niklas Stark brought down Ilyas Ansah, but the referee pointed straight to the spot. Derrick Köhn stepped up against his former club and calmly sent Backhaus the wrong way to give the hosts the lead.

The turning point arrived just three minutes later when András Schäfer was shown a straight red card for a studs-up challenge on Jens Stage, leaving Union to battle with ten men for the remainder of the match.

Bremen seized control soon after and found their equaliser in the 31st minute. A cleared corner fell kindly to Olivier Deman, who skipped past two defenders on the edge of the box before curling a superb strike into the top corner beyond the helpless Frederik Rønnow.

The visitors completed the turnaround just four minutes later when Stage got on the scoresheet himself. Cameron Puertas delivered another dangerous ball into the area and the Danish midfielder rose highest to power a header past Rønnow, giving Bremen a 2-1 lead at the break.

Thioune’s side continued in the same vein after the restart, maintaining firm control against their ten-man hosts. Stage came close to extending the lead five minutes into the second half when his effort struck the post, providing another warning for Union.

Marco Grüll effectively sealed the victory in the 66th minute after a calamitous piece of defending from Union. The ball ricocheted into the path of Romano Schmid inside the area and he calmly squared it across for Grüll to bundle home.

Werder managed the closing stages intelligently, keeping Union at arm’s length while seeing out the victory with relative ease. They added a fourth four minutes into stoppage time when Leonardo Bittencourt laid the ball on a plate for 18-year-old Patrice Čović to score his first senior goal and cap a dominant performance.

The result makes it back-to-back victories for Bremen under Thioune as they climb to 13th place on 25 points, with momentum beginning to build in their fight for survival. Union, meanwhile, slip to a second successive defeat and have now won just once in their last five matches, ending the weekend in 11th place.