Niclas Füllkrug strikes as Werder Bremen stun RB Leipzig
Niclas Füllkrug scored his first goal since returning to Werder Bremen as Daniel Thioune's side bounced back from last weekend's defeat at Freiburg with a comfortable victory over RB Leipzig at the Weserstadion.
Werder Bremen 3-1 Leipzig
Goals: 1-0 Dinkçi 4’ (assist: Chuki), 2-0 Füllkrug 68’ (assist: Grüll), 3-0 Grüll 80’, 3-1 Baku 90’+5 (assist: Maksimović)
Thioune made three changes to the Bremen side that started the 4-1 loss in the Black Forest, with new signings Arthur, Youri Regeer and Eren Dinkçi coming into the starting XI.
As for Leipzig, head coach Martín Demichelis had to make do without Castello Lukeba, Rocco Reitz and Brajan Gruda but handed starts to Maxime Estève, Neil El Aynaoui, Johan Bakayoko and summer signing Christopher Nkunku, who made his second full debut for Die Roten Bullen at the Weserstadion.
Dinkçi strikes early
Bremen made the perfect start when Füllkrug played in Chuki, who set up Dinkçi to slot home the opener with only four minutes on the clock.
Leipzig dominated possession and thought they had been handed a golden opportunity to restore parity when Bremen goalkeeper Karl Hein was penalised for an apparent foul on Nkunku inside the area, but VAR ruled that Hein had touched the ball before making contact with the Frenchman.
Nkunku had Leipzig's best chance before the interval, but his unorthodox effort from Ridle Baku's cross was straight at Hein.
Füllkrug and Grüll on target
Leipzig continued to press after the restart, but Werder almost doubled their advantage early in the second half when Regeer's looping effort was tipped onto the crossbar by the backtracking Maarten Vandevoordt.
Bremen grew in confidence after that and gave themselves a two-goal cushion when the unmarked Füllkrug powered home Marco Grüll's corner midway through the second half.
Grüll himself added a third with a low drive from the edge of the box, with Baku's stoppage-time effort from Andrija Maksimović nothing more than a consolation for the visitors.
Man of the Match: Niclas Füllkrug
Füllkrug was involved in the game's opening goal, feeding Chuki in the build-up to Dinkçi's effort, before doubling his team's advantage midway through the second period.
He had already gone close earlier in the second half with another header, only to be denied by a fine save from Vandevoordt.
The veteran frontman was given a rapturous ovation when he made way for Cedric Itten 16 minutes from time.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Werder Bremen 1.02 - RB Leipzig 1.65
Fastest player: Tidiam Gomis (Leipzig), 35.6 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 2:0 by Niclas Füllkrug (Bremen), 3 percent
Most pressed player: Niclas Füllkrug (Bremen), 10 times under pressure
Pass efficiency: Christopher Nkunku (Leipzig), 2.03
Fantasy Heroes: Marco Grüll (Bremen, 312 Points), Ridle Baku (Leipzig, 277 Points), Olivier Deman (Bremen, 214 Points)
