First the victory at Union Berlin, then the next threesome at Werder Bremen in the late Sunday match of the 18th matchday. After a serious defensive performance and merciless efficiency in front of the opponent’s goal, FC Augsburg won 2-0 (2-0) in the Weserstadion. The jump to twelfth place in the table (22 points) is the reward. Werder slipped to ninth place with 26 points.
Defeat in Leipzig (2:4), annoying draw against Heidenheim (3:3) – Werder Bremen did not start the 2025 football year well. Coach Ole Werner, who had collected a strong 25 points with his boys until the short winter break, suddenly had to deal with a far too high number of goals. The game against FC Augsburg, who traveled to Bremen with a 2-0 away win at Union Berlin, was all about one thing: stable defense.
Werder had to learn the hard way early on that you don’t get something like that for free: less than five minutes had been played in the ice-cold Weserstadion before it hit goalkeeper Michael Zetterer again. Mitchell Weiser and Leonardo Bittencourt played a bit sloppily in the build-up and the ball was lost to Arne Maier. He immediately played deep to the top, where Augsburg’s Samuel Essende somehow muddled his way through Marco Friedl and slotted flat past Zetterer to make it 0-1 (5th).
Werder scores – but from offside
Being behind against Augsburg is no fun – the Bundesliga competition knows that. Coach Jesse Thorup’s team plays very organized defensively and, above all, tough. The Augsburgers tackle duels, and do it properly. From then on, Werder had to work hard to somehow create scoring opportunities against their opponents, who were now deep in position.
Standards can sometimes help with such game progressions. In the 20th minute, Marvin Ducksch took a free kick sharply into the center and Anthony Jung tipped the ball into the goal with his toe. It’s a shame for Werder: the 33-year-old was offside. But Werder had now found a slightly better rhythm – the lively Romano Schmid in particular caused unrest in Augsburg’s backline.
Ducksch in focus – first offside, then acting
After almost half an hour, the next goal celebration died away: Ducksch had played around FCA keeper Finn Dahmen after a Schmid pass and put the ball in the goal. But here too – and this time quite clearly: offside.
A little later, Ducksch was in focus again: The Augsburg defense underestimated a long ball and Ducksch was free and fell in a running duel with the advancing Kristijan Jakic. Referee Benjamin Brand didn’t hesitate for a second and showed the Augsburg defender a red card. To be corrected by the VAR. According to the video images, Brand also saw: Ducksch had let himself go all too willingly – the sending off was revoked.
Mistakes are punished
Bad luck for Bremen, who had to deal with their own situation a little later. An Augsburg attack from the left was totally underestimated. Again, Bittencourt did not go into the duel and allowed Alexis Claude-Maurice to cross. In the middle, Essende thanked him again: the 26-year-old Congolese headed the score from eight meters to make it 0-2 (45′). That’s how it went into the dressing rooms because referee Brand didn’t react when Werder vehemently demanded a hand penalty shortly before the half-time whistle. Elvis Rexhbeçaj had received the ball. Not enough for Brand.
Gruell at the post
Werder didn’t have their lucky day – when Marco Grüll was on the verge of scoring the next goal in the 54th minute, the Austrian only heard the left post rattle after his 14-meter shot.
The game was now bitter. On the pitch that was getting worse and worse, Bremen struggled more and more desperately, but they simply couldn’t find any gaps against Augsburg, who continued to defend seriously. Time passed and there were no more real chances to score. And Augsburg celebrated its second away win in a row.
Bremen in Dortmund, Augsburg against Heidenheim
Bremen will be in Dortmund on matchday 19 (January 25th, 3:30 p.m.). At the same time, Augsburg is playing at home against the team from Heidenheim.