Bochum 0-2 Werder Bremen
Goals: 0-1 Füllkrug 86’ (assist: Weiser), 0-2 Füllkrug (90'+2)

Bochum boss Thomas Reis made several changes to his starting XI, but one man he could not consider changing was goalkeeper Manuel Riemann, who raced off his line to save his defence’s blushes and clear from the feet of Marvin Ducksch to avert the first sign of danger. He then made another save to deny Ducksch, with the home fans duly paying tribute to their No.1 as if he had scored. Jordi Osei-Tutu – who had lost the ball in the build-up to Ducksch’s effort – tried to make amends with Bochum’s first shot of the game at the other end, but Jiri Pavlenka had no trouble dealing with the tame strike. As the first half drew to a close, Niklas Schmidt went closer than anybody when he powered a free-kick against the inside of the right-hand post, with Riemann relieved to see the rebound cross his goalmouth and roll away from danger.

Riemann and Ducksch renewed their rivalry as the second half got underway, the Bochum custodian coming out on top twice more. He made another stop from the Bremen No.7 before diving low to his left to turn a Romano Schmid effort wide. A rare Bochum attack almost ended in a goal for Simon Zoller, whose header was saved by Pavlenka, although a nudge in a defender’s back may have seen the goal ruled out anyway. Osei-Tutu returned an earlier favour to Riemann by deflecting a Ducksch shot wide as Bochum continued to withstand the pressure. Withstand it they did, and they thought they had snatched victory when Philipp Hofmann deflected the ball in after Kevin Stöger’s cross was struck against him by Marco Friedl, but a VAR check confirmed he had handled the ball and the goal was struck off. From joy to despair within a matter of minutes, Füllkrug silenced the home fans by heading in Mitchell Weiser's cross, and he rubbed salt in the wound with a second in stoppage time. Bochum thought they were back in the game in stoppage time, but another VAR check saw another goal ruled out, with Hofmann drifting into an offside position. It summed up Bochum's day and their season so far - no return for all their effort, as Bremen's impressive return to the Bundesliga continues.

BOC Bochum Bochum - SVW Bremen Werder Bremen

Füllkrug double downs Bochum