Niclas Füllkrug double rescues Werder Bremen in wild draw with Paderborn
On the 100th anniversary of Werder Bremen's Weserstadion, the Green-Whites fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Paderborn, courtesy of a second-half double from Niclas Füllkrug, who continues his red-hot scoring streak this campaign.
Werder Bremen 2-2 Paderborn
Goals: 0-1 Marino 18’ (assist: Tigges), 0-2 Tigges 30’, 1-2 Füllkrug 60’ (assist: Dinkçi), 2-2 Füllkrug 65’ (pen.)
To mark the occasion of the Weserstadion's 100th anniversary, the Bremen players sported a limited-edition, all-white kit for their clash with Paderborn.
Opting to not try and fix that which was not already broken, head coach Daniel Thioune named an unchaged starting XI for a fifth consecutive match, whilst Ralf Kettemann made just the one change for the visitors, introducing Steffen Tigges, who formed a two-man strike partnership alongside Stefano Marino, in place of Marvin Pieringer.
Kettemann's personnel changes ultimately proved inspired, when in the 18th minute, Tigges and Marino combined to round off a swift counter-attack, which ended with Marino smashing a shot high into the near-top corner, giving Karl Hein no chance.
Bremen looked to respond immediately with Marco Grüll and Chuki both denied by a flying Nahuel Noll, who was in inspired form throughout. However, Paderborn doubled their lead shortly after in the 30th minute when a poorly-cleared long Jano ter Horst throw fell to Tigges, who slotted through Youri Regeer's legs to establish a two-goal cushion for the visitors at half-time.
After trailing at the break, Mitchell Weiser was introduced in place of Chuki at half-time as Bremen searched for a way back. Nevertheless, Paderborn continued to defend resolutely, until the 59th minute when Eren Dinkçi flicked on a long ball up from the back by Regeer for Füllkrug, who kept his composure to halve the deficit with a low finish past Noll.
Not six minutes later, Bremen were then awarded a penalty after Laurin Curda was penalised for handball. Füllkrug stepped up to take it, drilling the spot-kick low into the bottom corner for parity.
Bremen pushed for a winner in the closing stages, with Weiser, Regeer and Füllkrug all tested by Noll, who kept Paderborn in the contest with several more stunning saves.
The visitors then almost snatched victory themselves in stoppage-time, when substitute Rayan Philippe's shot, which rounded off a sweeping passing move, rattled the inside of the right post, with Bremen clearing the danger in the final moment to secure a share of the spoils.
Though Bremen could not find the killer blow, they still managed a Bundesliga first, becoming the only team in league history to recover points after going 2-0 down in three consecutive games.
Man of the Match: Niclas Füllkrug
With Füllkrug scoring both of Bremen's goals, turning a two-goal deficit into a share of the points, and also registered six shots - more than any other player in the match - he received the Man of the Match award with 88 percent of the vote.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Bremen 3.18 - Paderborn 07 1.11
Fastest player: Arthur (Bremen), 35.18 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 0-1 by Stefano Marino (Paderborn), 4 percent
Pass efficiency: Marco Grüll (Bremen), +5.27
Fantasy Heroes: Stefano Marino (Paderborn, 124 Points), Steffen Tigges (Paderborn, 70 Points), Nahuel Noll (Paderborn, 51 Points)
