Three consecutive losses in all competitions left Bremen needing a change in fortune, so the visit of a club they have beaten in nine of the last 13 home H2Hs was a welcome opportunity. They huffed and puffed throughout the first half, but ultimately could not blow the Hertha house down. Bundesliga September Player of the Month, Niclas Füllkrug, was denied a tap-in at the back post in the opening five minutes thanks to a last-ditch clearance by Agustín Rogel, and later saw a wicked curling effort tipped behind by Oliver Christensen. Füllkrug also teed up Marvin Ducksch on the counter, but his partner could only blaze over the crossbar.
At the other end Hertha were creating their own luck, but similarly failed to punish the hosts ahead of HT. Their best opportunity saw Marco Richter, restored to the starting XI for the first time in two matches, fire into the side netting in front of an open goal after Jiří Pavlenka got a glove to Stevan Jovetić’s teasing cross. Wasted opportunities have been the bane of Die Alte Dame’s campaign so far, which has resulted in only one win in five on the road, leaving any chance of turning a corner down to a decisive second half.
Desperation began to show as it turned into a scintillating end-to-end encounter, which was facilitated by the largely excellent refereeing of Tobias Reichel. He was more than happy to let the game flow, though perhaps let the River Islanders’ Mitchell Weiser off one too many times, as the full-back escaped a second yellow card for hacking down Richter shortly after the hour mark.
It appeared that both were happy to settle for a point as defensive changes were made, but complacency got the better of the visitors in the end, and Bremen snatched only their second home victory of the season at the death. Leaping highest to meet Anthony Jung’s deep cross, Füllkrug met the ball mid-flight to send an emphatic looping header into the left of Oliver Christensen’s goal to break Hertha hearts.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Niclas Füllkrug (Werder Bremen)
