Osnabrück victorious despite Opitz opener | OneFootball

Mbangula and Topp feature despite also playing in Bielefeld on Friday (Photo: WERDER.DE).

The match report from the friendly against the third-division side

SV Werder Bremen lost 2-1 in a friendly behind closed doors against VfL Osnabrück on Saturday afternoon. The Green-Whites took the lead in the 64th minute through Leon Opitz before the visitors responded quickly with a goal two minutes later from Tony Lesueur. Bernd Rießelmann won it for Osnabrück in the 85th minute.

Lineup and formation: The game between the two teams was organised to give those players who either didn’t feature, or only appeared briefly, in Friday’s loss to Bielefeld, more game time.

Starting XI: Backhaus - Mbangula, Topp, Hansen-Aarøen, Malatini, Coulibaly, Schmetgens, Adeh, Opitz, Salifou and Wagner.

The bench: Smarkalev - Musah, Mbock, Bellmann, Heitmann, Röcker and Baum.

Opitz rattles the woodwork

Mio Backhaus led the team onto the pitch as captain (Photo: W.DE).

First-half highlights:

8’: An Mbangula corner lands at the feet of Topp on the penalty spot. Goalkeeper Jonsson stays strong and collects the ball. 30’: Opitz get into a dangerous position in the box but can’t find a teammate in the centre. The ball stays alive though as Opitz’s deflected shot hits the crossbar. 45’: Opitz cuts in from the left wing, however, Topp is under pressure and unable to direct his header goalwards.

Opitz scores, Osnabrück respond immediately

Opitz put the hosts in front (Photo: W.DE).

Second-half highlights:

49’: The first real chance for the visitors as Kammerbau fires a shot from a tight angle but Backhaus is tight to his post and makes the save. 57’: Big chance! Werder get a free kick in a central position after a foul on Coulibaly. Jonsson is able to parry Topp’s strong effort. Opitz put the hosts in front (Photo: W.DE). 64’: Werder lead! Opitz breaks through and calmly takes the ball round Jonsson before passing into an open net. 66’: An immediate response. The visitors attack through Christensen who sets it for Lesueur to fire into the far corner. 78’: Osnabrück fail to clear their lines from a corner and the ball lands at the feet of Musah, who forces Jonsson to tip it over the bar. 84’: Hansen-Aarøen with another strong run! The Norwegian lays the ball off to Mbock who fires just wide of the far post. 85’: The guests celebrate down the other end. Christensen puts Rießelmann through, who pokes it past Backhaus. 90+4’: Full time

Summary: In a close encounter, SV Werder had the better chances. After the break, Werder took a short-lived lead before the visitors managed to turn the game around. It was an intense affair which saw everyone involved get some much needed game time.

Head coach Horst Steffen: "The boys worked hard and put up a good fight and played the 90 minutes they deserve. For me, the fact we had chances to take the lead and to win the game is a positive."

Match statistics:

SV Werder: Backhaus - Schmetgens, Malatini, Coulibaly, Wagner (60’ Röcker) - Salifou, Adeh - Opitz, Hansen-Aarøen, Mbangula (46’ Musah) - Topp (60’ Mbock)

VfL Osnabrück: Jonsson - Henning (46’ Wagner), Meißner (46’ Rießelmann), Schumacher (46’ Christensen), Jacobsen (75’ Goguadze), Kehl (75’ Ihorst), Müller (75’ Kopacz), Wiemann (75’ Tesche), Fabinski (46’ Karademir), Kammerbauer (75’ Wiethaup), Badjie (46’ Lesueur)

Goals: 1-0 Opitz (64’), 1-1 Lesueur (66’), 1-2 Rießelmann (85’)

Referee: Filip Gagelmann

Spectators: -