Niclas Füllkrug scores again as Werder Bremen beat Hoffenheim
Niclas Füllkrug scored his ninth Bundesliga goal of the season - and 12th of the campaign in all competitions - as Werder Bremen stretched their unbeaten league run to seven matches with victory over Hoffenheim at the Weserstadion.
Werder Bremen 2-0 Hoffenheim
Goals: 1-0 Füllkrug 57’ (assist: Hein), 2-0 Dinkçi 82’ (Grüll)
Werder boss Daniel Thioune made four changes to the team that lost to Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Cup in midweek. Füllkrug returned to the starting XI after scoring twice off the bench at Signal Iduna Park, with Mitchell Weiser, Ludovit Reis and Olivier Deman also recalled.
Hoffenheim coach Christian Ilzer, meanwhile, made six alterations to the side that lost on penalties to Holstein Kiel in the cup. Fisnik Asllani was restored after coming on at half-time against the Storks, joining Oliver Baumann, Ozan Kabak, Mats Rots, full Bundesliga debutant Natnael Abraha and Adam Daghim in the visitors’ XI.
No first-half breakthrough
Bremen started brightly and went close early on when Füllkrug squared for Reis, who steered his effort wide of the target.
The hosts were dealt a blow just after the quarter-hour mark, however, when Weiser was forced off with an apparent muscle injury. Eren Dinkçi was brought on to replace the veteran midfielder.
The best opportunity of the first half fell to Andrej Kramarić, whose looping back-post header appeared destined for the far corner until Amos Pieper somehow managed to hook the ball off the goal-line.
Füllkrug breaks deadlock
There was little to choose between the teams in the early stages of the second half, but the deadlock was broken on 57 minutes when a long ball from Karl Hein found Füllkrug, who held off Kabak before finishing left-footed into the roof of the net to put Bremen 1-0 up.
Hoffenheim continued to press for an equaliser, but Asllani, Adam Daghim and second-half substitute Tim Lemperle all failed to get the better of Hein from promising positions.
Dinkçi seals it
With eight minutes left, Bremen won the ball high up the pitch and Marco Grüll set up Dinkçi, who curled a sumptuous finish into the far corner from inside the box to make it 2-0.
The hosts comfortably saw out the final stages of the contest to move up to fifth in the Bundesliga table, with 15 points from their eight matches so far.
Man of the Match: Niclas Füllkrug
Füllkrug opened the scoring with a powerful left-footed finish, and also registered more shots than any other player on the Weserstadion pitch.
The in-form striker pickde up 57 percent of the overall vote on the back of another influential display.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Werder Bremen 0.94 - Hoffenheim 0.86
Fastest player: Adam Daghim (Hoffenheim), 34.19 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 2-0 by Eren Dinkçi (Werder Bremen), 10 percent
Pass efficiency: Koki Machida (Hoffenheim), +2.59
Fantasy Heroes: Niclas Füllkrug (Werder Bremen, 269 Points), Eren Dinkçi (Werder Bremen, 240 Points), Karl Hein (Werder Bremen, 236 Points)
