Werder Bremen and Eintracht Frankfurt deliver a thrilling game and a dramatic final phase; the 3-3 draw ultimately doesn’t help either of the two crisis clubs.
Frankfurt’s new signing Arnaud Kalimuendo gave Eintracht the lead after just 52 seconds. Justin Njinmah equalized (29′), which was also Bremen’s first goal after three games without a goal.
After Frankfurt took the lead again through Nnamdi Collins (56th), Jens Stage (78th) and shortly afterwards Jovan Milosevic (80th) turned the game around. Ansgar Knauff (90+4) ensured Frankfurt’s late equalizer in added time.
Toppmöller – “That can’t be our claim”
The late equalizer denied Bremen the liberation they were longing for; Werder has now been waiting for a win for seven games. “Enormously bitter, we were clearly the better team”said Bremen’s goalscorer Njinmah at the Sportschau microphone. “If you lead until the last second, it feels like a defeat.”
Horst Steffen also mentioned the late equalizer “totally annoying, we have to live with that,” In the Sportschau interview, the Werder coach also praised the performance and morale of his team. “We created some great chances and kept pushing, even after the strange goals we conceded.”
Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller couldn’t be happy despite the late equalizing goal, he spoke about it in the Sportschau interview “two lost points” and argued with him “wrong decisions”especially in defensive behavior. In the end, the team showed great morale, says Toppmöller, but they can’t be happy about the point: “We continue to concede too many goals. That can’t be our goal.”
Toppmöller counted – sports director Krösche: “We’re discussing it now”
With 39 goals conceded, Eintracht has currently conceded more goals than bottom-placed Heidenheim. The pressure on Toppmöller is likely to increase after just one win from nine games.
Frankfurt’s sports director Markus Krösche avoided making a clear commitment to his coach in Bremen. “We’re discussing this now. We have to address the issues and see that we never show such performances again”said Krösche and talked about the same mistakes over and over again. “We can’t go on like this, we can’t act like this.”
The first goal comes in the 1st minute
Eintracht were clearly looking for a turnaround in the Weserstadion from the start – and were happy about Bremen’s starting help: the first good, high ball into the box caught the Werder defense completely off guard. Nathaniel Brown headed the ball across the six-yard box, Kalimuendo switched faster than Amos Pieper and put the ball into the near corner. It was the debut goal for the loanee from Nottingham.
Werder seemed to have been knocked out after the early deficit and had a difficult time getting into the game. The Frankfurt team exuded confidence – but revealed their defensive vulnerability for the first time after 20 minutes. Goalscorer Kalimuendo gave the ball in midfield with a sloppy cross pass. Stage fed Njinmah with a strong through ball, Werder’s striker was free but put the ball just past the far post.
Njinmah finally hits the Nebelhorn in Bremen again
The scene was something like an announcement of the equalizer ten minutes later: Once again, during a Bremen counterattack, the distances in Frankfurt’s defense were not correct, Nnamdi Collins had to let Njinmah run – and this time the Bremen striker’s shot was exactly right. The fog horn sounded again in the Weser Stadium for the first time since the end of November (1-1 against Cologne).
Justin Njinmah equalizes in the 29th minute – the defeated Collins can only watch
Bremen were now in the game at the latest, and as a result they had more shares in the game and also more shots.
Werder came out of the locker room with self-confidence and created further chances. Frankfurt’s renewed lead came as a surprise, initiated by a strong move from Collins, who won the ball in midfield. The national player ran through to the box, received the ball from Fares Chaibi and finished from close range.
As after the 0-1, Bremen increased the pressure again after falling behind – Njinmah missed the huge chance to equalize. The Werder striker ran past Theate and was once again alone in front of Kaua Santos, but put the ball past the right post.
Fatal three minutes for Frankfurt
The Eintracht defense wobbled worryingly – Chaibi could have stopped the bleeding. The Algerian was perfectly cleared by Can Uzun, but missed the huge chance to make it 3-1 (77th). Werder almost struck in return: Samuel Mbangula brought a dangerous free kick into the penalty area, Stage extended with a header and the ball sank unstoppably into the far corner for Kaua Santos.
Frankfurt completely lost track – less than two minutes later, the Eintracht defense was overrun again, Romano Schmid stumbled, but then passed it across to substitute Milosevic – Bremen’s new signing deliberately pushed the ball into the corner and celebrated a dream debut.
Jovan Milosevic celebrates his late lead for Werder Bremen.
Lucky punch for Frankfurt by Knauff
It remained dramatic until injury time – Frankfurt actually came back again with a lucky punch: Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab crossed from the baseline in front of the goal, Knauff scored. But the assistant referee had the flag up because he saw the ball go out of bounds when the cross came in. The scene was reviewed and referee Benjamin Brand awarded the goal.
Bremen in Leverkusen, Frankfurt against Hoffenheim
Werder Bremen will be visiting Bayer Leverkusen on matchday 19 (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.). Frankfurt also welcomes TSG Hoffenheim on Saturday afternoon.
