Bundesliga: Werder Bremen saves point at VfL Bochum

Entertaining 2nd half

Werder Bremen fought for a late draw with direct relegation rivals VfL Bochum. Coach Ole Werner’s team drew 1-1 (0-0) from the Revierklub on Sunday after Niklas Stark’s celebrated equalizer in the third minute of stoppage time. Patrick Osterhage had previously given Bochum the lead with a remarkable long-range shot (64′). Both teams remain tied on 17 points and are six points ahead of the relegation place.

Werder and VfL showed great commitment in front of 26,000 spectators in the Ruhrstadion. In terms of football, the game remained at a very manageable level. Even after the first half of the season in the Bundesliga, Bremen are still waiting for their first away win of the season.

With drizzle and temperatures just above freezing, a competitive game developed from the start. Both teams repeatedly acted beyond the limits of what was permitted. Bochum’s Cristian Gamboa received his first yellow card in the 3rd minute and things remained rough afterwards. Football highlights were rare. After half an hour, the spectators had seen two pack formations, but still no chance to score. Referee Tobias Stieler repeatedly struggled to calm the heated tempers.

In order to get close to the goal, the hosts in particular repeatedly tried long balls to the top. Goalkeeper Manuel Riemann was often the starting point of these attack attempts. However, both defensive lines stood well, mostly had control of the air and allowed virtually no penalty area scenes. It took until the 34th minute before a goalkeeper was challenged in his core skills for the first time: Bremen’s Michael Zetterer made a strong save from close range against Matus Bero.

Of two fairly harmless teams, Bochum remained the slightly more dangerous. After some nice preparatory work by Christopher Antwi-Adjei, Gonçalo Paciência clearly missed the Werder goal with his pike (49′). On the other side, Justin Njinmah went down in the penalty area after a challenge with Osterhage. Bremen called for a penalty. Stieler watched the scene again on the screen on the sidelines, but then decided it was offside. Njinmah had been in the forbidden zone when he shot from Jens Stage.

Werder now became a little more determined, but Bochum scored – and how! Osterhage hit the ball unstoppably into the right corner from around 20 meters. The stadium announcer celebrated the goal as “Goal of the Month for January”. Werder now tried furious attacks – and actually managed to equalize in stoppage time through Stark.

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