Werder waste 2-0 lead
Werder Bremen failed to hold onto a two-goal lead at home and played to a 2-2 draw against VfB Stuttgart on the fourth match day of the Bundesliga. Werder jumped ahead 2-0 on goals by Kevin de Bruyne and Zlatko Junuzovic...
Werder waste 2-0 lead
Werder Bremen failed to hold onto a two-goal lead at home and played to a 2-2 draw against VfB Stuttgart on the fourth match day of the Bundesliga. Werder jumped ahead 2-0 on goals by Kevin de Bruyne and Zlatko Junuzovic...
Werder Bremen failed to hold onto a two-goal lead at home and played to a 2-2 draw against VfB Stuttgart on the fourth match day of the Bundesliga. Werder jumped ahead 2-0 on goals by Kevin de Bruyne and Zlatko Junuzovic before Martin Harnik and Cacau scored for Stuttgart. Both teams finished the game with 10 men as Harnik and Assani Lukimya each was shown a red card in the final stages. After the draw, Werder are 11th on the table with four points.
De Bruyne scores
Head coach Thomas Schaaf made two changes to his starting line-up with Sebastian Prödl and Junuzovic replacing Philipp Bargfrede and Lukimya. Werder struggled at the start of the match but still went ahead 1-0 in the 23rd minute. Harnik turned the ball over and the Green-Whites rushed forward with a counter attack and Eljero Elia passed from the left side to de Bruyne, who had a one-two pass with Nils Petersen before scoring to make it 1-0.
Junuzovic pushes lead to 2-0
The fans at Weser Stadium were busy celebrating again 11 minutes later as Petersen won the ball and passed to Junuzovic, who had no problem converting for the 2-0 lead in the 34th minute. Petersen missed a chance for a 3-0 advantage just seconds before the half-time whistle as he was unable to beat Stuttgart keeper Sven Ulreich in a one-on-one situation. Werder went into the changing room ahead 2-0 at the break.

Harnik gets a goal back
The Green-Whites wasted another opportunity for a three-goal lead with Ulreich making a superb save on Marko Arnautovic's long distance attempt two minutes after the re-start. Stuttgart halved the deficit in the 50th minute as Ibrahima Traoré crossed into the box where former Bremen player Harnik beat the Werder defence and trimmed the margin to 2-1.
Cacau shocks Werder
Werder could not regain control of the match and Stuttgart found more run of play. Still, Arnautovic was just wide of the Stuttgart goal with a header in the 75th minute. But Stuttgart equalised 2-2 in the 81st minute with Cacau pouncing on a loose ball in the box and striking past Werder keeper Sebastian Mielitz.
Two sending-offs
Things got hectic in the final stages as Harnik was shown his second warning in the 88th minute and Lukimya was sent off in the 90th minute for his rude attack on Georg Niedermeier just a minute after being subbed in. After grabbing a 2-0 lead, the 2-2 draw was a disappointing result from Werder's point of view.
