A poor run of form has somewhat derailed what had at times promised to be a remarkable return to the Bundesliga for Bremen, and their recent 6-1 and 7-1 away defeats would have been on the minds of fans in the Gästeblock of the Mercedes-Benz Arena before the match. Their fears were almost realised early on, as the hosts took a ferocious and direct approach to the opening stages, with Chris Führich repeatedly troubling Bremen’s defenders. Goalkeeper Jiří Pavlenka was almost left red-faced when his mis-kick ended up at the feet of Serhou Guirassy, but the Czech Republic international made amends to keep it out.
The visitors soon established themselves though, as Niklas Schmidt found Leonardo Bittencourt in ample space on the right-hand side, and his first-time strike was met with strong hands from Florian Müller. The Stuttgart stopper has failed to keep a clean sheet since August, and he looked to be beaten once again as Bundesliga top-scorer Niclas Füllkrug rose highest to find the net, but his push on Hiroki Ito ensured that the goal wouldn’t stand. Die Werderaner continued to push, and Ducksch was unlucky to see his free-kick brush the outside of the post. There was one more chance for the ever-lively Führich in the first period, but Pavlenka was well in the way of his strike.
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The start of the second half was riddled with mistakes, and Stuttgart’s defenders were all at sea when they were caught on the break, the ball ending up at the feet of Stage, who managed to slice the ball into the top corner to break the deadlock. It looked as though Bremen were happy with the one-goal lead, and they sat back, but in a moment of brilliance, they were suddenly two goals to the good. On a rare foray forward, Füllkrug found Ducksch, who sensationally curled the ball well out of reach of Müller from all of 35 yards out, sealing the three points for the north-west side.
Despite their efforts for a reply, Stuttgart were toothless in attack, which is particularly problematic given they've now gone 31 Bundesliga matches without a clean sheet.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jens Stage (Werder Bremen)
