"We are difficult to beat"

The reaction after Leverkusen
Christan Groß and Co. fought hard for the point. (Photo: nordphoto).
First Team
Saturday, 26.10.2019 / 22:38

Werder are now unbeaten in each of their last four games after a 2-2 draw in Leverkusen, although they have only taken a point once again. Kohfeldt's side weren't consistent enough in an entertaining 90 minutes on Saturday evening. "We played on the counter and deservedly led 2-1. Then we lost control of the game," added Kohfeldt. 

On the match:

Davy Klaassen celebrates putting Werder ahead (Photo: nordphoto)

Florian Kohfeldt: The opening ten minutes were poor. Nothing was going the way we had planned. However, after those first few minutes, nearly everything started working the way we wanted it to. We had the chances, and dictated when they had the ball. We took a deserved 2-1 lead off a counter-attack. But, we then lost control of the match. In the end, it wouldn’t have been wrong if the match had ended in a 3-2 loss, because we were up against a top-quality side.

Ömer Toprak: “We came here to win the three points. We fought really hard and even took the lead. Unfortunately, Alario got his toe to the ball first and we weren't given a penalty which was frustrating."

Josh Sargent: “I knew that they had physically strong defenders and it was a challenge. But I can learn from games like this. At the end of the day we’re happy with the point. I think lots of teams would take a point when they come here. But everyone knows that we wanted to win the game.”

Davy Klaassen: "We weren't able to create space for ourselves at the start. As time went on, we improved and showed that we were able to create chances. We were on the back foot during the second half and weren't as solid in defence as we would have liked to be. Taking just one point from every game means it takes a lot longer for them to add up, but it also proves that we're a hard team to beat."

Maxi Eggestein: "Taking a point in Leverkusen is okay, but it's still a tough result to swallow. We didn't have a good start into the match and were lucky that Leverkusen's second goal was called offside, otherwise we would have been down by two goals. We improved after that, but we have to be better at taking advantage of our counter-attacks."

On the penalty appeal:

Florian Kohfeldt's team played well in phases (Photo: nordphoto).

Florian Kohfeldt: “It was a very good refereeing performance from Dr. Brych, just as he has done over the past few weeks. He stuck to the rules very well throughout the game. He will have another look at the incident at the end of the game. For me, it was a penalty because he wasn’t just using his arm to support himself, and he blocked the ball with both hands.”

Ömer Toprak: “We should have been given a penalty at the end. Even I could see it from far away. If I could see it, then surely the referee could see it as well. It’s disappointing that VAR didn’t intervene.”

Joshua Sargent: “These rules about handball in the box... I don't know what is handball and what isn't. It was a clear penalty for me.”

Davy Klaasen: “I have no idea why VAR didn't intervene. It has to in this case. It was a clear penalty. We said getting hit on your arm while you are supporting yourself isn't handball, but he wasn't supporting himself.”

Maxi Eggestein: “It is just crazy. It was a handball for the Leverkusen goal, but later it wasn't. I have no clue what is and isn't handball anymore. It would have been a penalty somewhere else.”

On the run of draws:

Rashica levelled the game in the first half (Photo: nordphoto).

Florian Kohfeldt: “It’s worth saying that we haven’t lost in four games. Last week against Hertha was disappointing, but taking a point away at Dortmund, Frankfurt and Leverkusen is no easy feat. Today was half good half bad. You need to show your character in games like this as we came from behind and ended up with a point.”

Davy Klaassen: “Picking up a point per game takes a long time but it also shows that we’re difficult to beat. We can say that we haven’t lost for a while, but we also haven’t won for a while. So we haven’t really made much progress.”

Josh Sargent: We need to win more games, in order to improve. More and more players are returning from injury and we will get better.

Maxi Eggestein: Our problem is that we've dropped points against Düsseldorf and Berlin.

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