Werder Bremen collected a crucial 4-1 victory in their road match against VfB Stuttgart on the 21st game day of the Bundesliga, winning their second straight game for the first time in 15 months...
Werder Bremen collected a crucial 4-1 victory in their road match against VfB Stuttgart on the 21st game day of the Bundesliga, winning their second straight game for the first time in 15 months...
Werder Bremen collected a crucial 4-1 victory in their road match against VfB Stuttgart on the 21st game day of the Bundesliga, winning their second straight game for the first time in 15 months. Mehmet Ekici scored two goals for the Green-Whites with Aaron Hunt and Kevin De Bruyne also tallying for Bremen. Ibrahima Traore scored Stuttgart's goal.
Arnautovic out
Werder head coach Thomas Schaaf trusted the same team that won 2-1 last weekend against Hannover 96, meaning Clemens Fritz was left on the bench after returning from his suspension. Marco Arnautovic, who was also available again after a ban, was not in the line-up with muscular problems.
De Bruyne hits the post
Werder put the Stuttgart under pressure from the beginning but were lucky not to have fallen behind after two minutes as Gotoku Sakai shot just over the bar from a good position. Bremen's first chance came in the 24th minute as De Bruyne's hammer blast struck only the left post with Stuttgart keeper Sven Ulreich corralling the rebound. Eljero Elia was close to giving the Green-Whites the lead in the 30th minute but the midfielder shot wide of the open goal from a tight angle.
Ekici makes it 1-0
Ekici proved more accurate in the 34th minute as he re-directed a De Bruyne blast into the box into the goal for a 1-0 lead. It was Ekici's first goal of the season. The 1-0 lead held up until half-time.

Traore and Hunt score
Shortly after the re-start, the Werder backline lost their concentration for just a second and Stuttgart equalised with Traore running onto a loose ball and then blasting it past a helpless Werder keeper Sebastian Mielitz to make it 1-1 in the 50th minute. But Bremen came up with the perfect answer in taking the lead again 2-1 in the 60th minute as Nils Petersen snatched a ball in the midfield and fed Hunt, who shot to the far left lower corner past Ulreich.
Ekici, De Bruyne finish off match
Werder took control of the match and pushed the lead to 3-1 in the 75th minute as Ekici curled his free kick into the upper right corner. And De Bruyne finished off the scoring two minutes into stoppage time, looping a shot over Ulreich as Bremen took home the all-important road victory.
