Schmid lets Werder celebrate point late: Bremen fights for draw against Leverkusen

Schmid lets Werder celebrate point late Bremen fights for draw

Schmid-lets-Werder-celebrate-point-late-Bremen-fights-for-draw

After being late twice

Schmid lets Werder celebrate point late: Bremen fights for draw against Leverkusen

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Not even a goal from returnee Victor Boniface saved Bayer Leverkusen from a Bundesliga setback. Although the striker scored to give Bayer the lead a week after his road accident, the German champions still could not overcome a 2-2 (1-0) draw at Werder Bremen.

Romano Schmid equalized for Werder in the 90th minute after the Green and Whites had not scored a goal in their first three home matches. Marvin Ducksch had already made it 1-1 for Bremen (74th), but Bayer regained the advantage shortly after thanks to an own goal from Felix Agu (77th).

Due to the consequences of last weekend’s accident, Boniface was absent from this week’s Champions League away match at Stade Brestois. The striker was available again on Weser and immediately back in the starting lineup. “We spoke on Thursday. He feels much better. Yesterday he trained without problems, then we made the decision that he would play from the start,” Bayer coach Xabi Alonso explained on “Sky” before the match.

Boniface had the opportunity to take the lead for Leverkusen in the third minute, but failed to hit the ball correctly in a promising position. Otherwise, the German champions first took care of defensive tasks. Because unlike a few weeks ago during the 5-0 defeat against Bayern Munich, Werder acted with much more courage and created good chances.

Ducksch in particular seemed to have a lot planned. He recently made it clear in “Kicker” that he has not yet given up on his dream of being called up to the national team again. The Werder striker was in great form recently in the 4-2 win at Wolfsburg – and Ducksch was also the center of attention on several occasions against Leverkusen.

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In the 14th minute, Ducksch ran alone towards the Leverkusen goal after a dream pass from Mitchell Weiser, but could not beat Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky with a lob that was a little too careless. Shortly after, Ducksch failed with a beautiful shot past the Leverkusen goalkeeper.

Boniface, on the other hand, was more effective. After a great combination via Florian Wirtz and Jérémie Frimpong, the Bayern striker was there in the middle and gave the visitors the lead. With the advantage behind them, the Leverkusen team took control of the match at the Weserstadion, which was sold out with 42,100 spectators. Especially after the break, the defending champions controlled the action for a long time like a top team.

But then Ducksch broke the Bremen curse. After coach Ole Werner’s team failed to score in the first three matches in front of their home crowd, Ducksch equalized with a header a full quarter of an hour before the end. Finally, the famous foghorn sounded again on the Weser to celebrate the goals of the Greens and Whites.

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But the joy didn’t last long. Shortly after the famous equalizer, Agu fired the ball into his own goal under pressure from Frimpong. But Werder did not give up and equalized with a powerful shot from Schmid. A sign of caution from Bremen, even if Werder have failed to win any of the last nine Bundesliga games against Bayer.