Honours even between Bremen and Freiburg
Bremen - Both SV Werder Bremen and SC Freiburg remain winless in the current campaign after an end-to-end affair finished 1-1 at the Weserstadion.
Di Santo strikes back
It was Christian Streich’s Freiburg who bared their teeth earliest in this crucial clash at the bottom, with Vladimir Darida’s shot cleared off the line by Assani Lukimya after a mere three minutes, proving a portent of things to come. The Czech winger found the net five minutes later, converting his penalty coolly past Raphael Wolf to give Freiburg a deserved lead. It wasn’t to last, however, as Bremen, spurred on by a vociferous home support, pushed for the equaliser.
It came in the 31st minute after a period of sustained pressure led by Eljero Elia and Franco di Santo. The Argentinian latched onto a through ball to gallop through the visitors’ defence and hammer his shot high into the top corner for his fourth goal of the season. While Freiburg were pinned back after their goal, Werder used the equaliser as the impetus to drive for another. Di Santo and Fin Bartels were particularly dangerous as the half drew to a close.
Bremen enjoyed the better of the opening stages of the second half, di Santo linking up well with Elia before drawing a fantastic save from Roman Bürki on the hour mark. Both sides then had chances to nick a first win, as Felix Klaus headed onto the post in the 69th minute, and di Santo had the ball in the net but was ruled offside eight minutes later. Ultimately, however, a lack of cutting edge in front of goal during the second period prevented either side taking their first three points of the season.
Line-ups and statistics
