Maxi Eggestein double sees Werder Bremen down Schalke
Maximillian Eggestein scored both goals as Werder Bremen consolidated their position in the top three with a well-earned 2-0 win at Schalke.
Schalke 0-2 Werder Bremen
Goals: 0-1 M. Eggestein (43’), 0-2 M. Eggestein (66’)
Schalke lost goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann to injury in the warm-up, but head coach Domenico Tedesco was able to call on a fully fit Weston McKennie - the American having recovered from the muscular complaint that prompted his withdrawal from his country’s October international friendlies against Colombia and Peru. Even with McKennie operating in an advanced second striker role, chances were at a premium in a keenly contested first period, which burst to life on the stroke of half-time when Eggestein fired an unstoppable effort past Schalke stand-in stopper Alexader Nübel to give Werder the lead.
Schalke showed an immediate improvement after the restart as Amine Harit volleyed wide following a fantastic piece of play by McKennie. Austria international Guido Burgstaller brought the best out of Jiri Pavelnka, before substitute Mark Uth carved open the Bremen defence with a glorious low cross that neither McKennie nor Franco Di Santo could turn home. It proved a costly miss as Eggestein, profiting from some tenacious work from Theo Gebre Selassie, cooly slammed in his second to give Bremen daylight. Only a fine Nübel save prevented Kevin Möhwald from adding further salt into the Schalke wound, while an Uth header that rattled the crossbar summed up the Royal Blues' night.
Match stats
- Eggestein has scored three of his seven Bundesliga goals against Schalke. He now has four for the current campaign - more than any other Bremen player - with three coming from long range.The last Bremen midfielder to score four goals after eight matches was Diego - some 10 years ago.Werder have posted more Bundesliga wins over Schalke than they have against any other Bundesliga club (42).Schalke have already lost three times at home this season. They were beaten twice on home soil in 2017/18.The Royal Blues only have five goals to their name in the current campaign. They had scored twice as many goals at this stage of last season.Schalke's Hamza Mendyl has collected more yellow cards in five games than any other Bundesliga player this season (four).
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Line-ups
Schalke: Nübel - Caligiuri, Naldo, Sane, Mendyl (Uth 46') - McKennie, Mascarell (Di Santo 63'), Bentaleb- Harit (Serdar 69'), Burgstaller, Schöpf
Unused subs: Nastasic, Konoplyanka, Rudy
Absentees: Teuchert (thigh)
Coach: Domenico Tedesco
Bremen: Pavlenka – Gebre Selassie, Veljkovic, Moisander, Augustinsson – M. Eggestein, Sahin (Möhwald 78'), Klaassen – Osako (Langkamp 56'), Kainz (Pizarro 55'), Kruse (c)
Unused subs: Plogmann, Rashica, J. Eggestein, Friedl
Absentees: Bargfrede (thigh), Bartels (ankle), Johannsson (fitness), Kapino (thigh), Käuper (ankle), Letterer (Pseudarthrosis)
Coach: Florian Kohfeldt
Watch: Maxi Eggestein reflects on a job well done
As it happened