SVW passes Eisernen
©IMAGO
Thanks to a dream goal from Marco Grüll, Werder Bremen continued their upswing in the Bundesliga. The Austrian scored the winning goal for the green-whites in the lackluster 1-0 (0-0) against Union Berlin in the 72nd minute and stole the show from Bremen’s top transfer Victor Boniface on his starting eleven debut. Union suffered another setback a week after the 3-1 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach and fell behind the Green-Whites in the table.
Before the game there was a loud moment of mourning in the Weserstadion for Bremen’s former champion player and runner-up world champion Max Lorenz. The 19-time international player died at the age of 86, as the club announced, citing his family, a few hours before kick-off. In his honor, the hosts played with mourning ribbon. Lorenz won the DFB Cup with Werder in 1961 and the championship four years later. He was also in the World Cup squad in 1966 and 1970. He was not used at the finals in England, when Germany lost the legendary World Cup final. Four years later, Lorenz came on as a substitute in the 1-0 win in the small final against Uruguay. He followed what was happening in Bremen until the end.
Successful starting eleven debut for Boniface at Werder Bremen
His successors in the green and white jersey offered the 41,800 spectators in the sold-out Weserstadion lean football fare for a long time. Werder coach Horst Steffen called Boniface into the starting line-up for the first time this season. The striker moved from Bayer Leverkusen to Weser on the last day of the transfer period in the summer with a clear physical deficit and has only made a few short appearances so far.
“Now is the time to send him onto the field,” said Steffen, explaining Boniface’s inclusion in the starting eleven before the game on “Sky”. There were also signals from the team that the top scorer for Leverkusen’s 2024 championship team deserved a chance.
However, Boniface was unable to use this. Although the Nigerian showed off his skills a few times, the attacker was unable to really shine. Boniface only threatened to score once with a long-range shot in the 15th minute.
Since both teams largely neutralized each other in other respects, the spectators saw a game without any major highlights. Before the break, the majority of the chances, although not of high quality, were recorded by the guests from Berlin, who had two ex-Bremer players in the starting line-up in Oliver Burke and Derrick Köhn. Danilho Doekhi had the best opportunity shortly before half-time when a header narrowly missed the Bremen goal.
Even after the break, the level remained manageable. The Bremen team found almost no means against Berlin’s tight defense. Only an artificial shot from Grüll gave the North Germans the lead. The Austrian flicked the ball beautifully into the corner.
