Grüll’s dream goal breaks the spell as Werder defeats Union

By Werder Bremen

The Werder starting eleven: Backhaus – Sugawara, Pieper, Stage, Mbangula, Grüll, Lynen, Schmid, Boniface, Coulibaly, Friedl

The substitute bench: Hein – Stark, Topp, Bittencourt, Njinmah, Puertas, Malatini, Čović, Alvero

The Union starting eleven: Rønnow – Leite, Doekhi, Kemlein, Burke, Khedira, Ansah, Querfeld, Ilic, Trimmel, Köhn

The substitute bench: Raab – Jeong, Schäfer, Rothe, Haberer, Skarke, Ljubicic, Bogdanov, Nsoki

Victor Boniface made his starting debut for the Green-Whites in a 1-0 win against FC Union Berlin.

SV Werder Bremen kicked off Matchday 8 of the Bundesliga season against FC Union Berlin with Head coach Horst Steffen making two changes to the team’s starting eleven that drew 2-2 draw at FC Heidenheim.

On loan from Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Boniface has made five brief appearances for SVW so far and joined Senne Lynen in the Steffen’s squad against Union. The Belgian missed the trip to the Ostalb region due to the birth of his second child.

Patrice Čović and Cameron Puertas started on the bench, along with Niklas Stark, who has recovered in time from a hip injury and was included in the matchday squad. Due to the death of Werder legend Max Lorenz, the Werder wore a black armband.

SV Werder Bremen secured their second home win of the current season at the start of Bundesliga Matchday 8. The 41,800 spectators had to wait a long time for the 1-0 winner against FC Union Berlin, which Marco Grüll scored with a magnificent curler just before the final whistle (72′).

FIRST HALF: Werder with more game shares, scoring chances scarce

12th minute: Burke is set up in the right half-lane, and Friedl and Coulibaly combine to drive the Scotsman further out wide. The former Bremen player still manages to shoot from a tight angle – but Backhaus is alert.

After the resulting corner, an Ilic header misses the target. 22nd minute: The best chance of the game so far! Boniface cleverly shifts play to the right, where Sugawara takes the shot.

Leite heads the ball just over his own goal. 27th minute: Grüll simply fires from 30 meters. The ball flies past Rønnow, who only manages to catch it after a second attempt. 45th +1 minute: That was close. A Trimmel corner finds Doekhi, who heads the ball just wide.

SECOND HALF: Union retreats – until Grüll scores fantastically

47th minute: A strong move ends with Trimmel clearing a Sugawara cross to the penalty spot. Stage’s left-footed shot isn’t clean, so the danger fizzles out.

67th minute: Friedl clears Trimmel’s free-kick into the back area, where Skarke immediately shoots. The ball misses the target by a good meter.

72nd minute: A dream goal! Grüll is fed behind the back line by Sugawara and cuts in on his left foot. The Austrian curls the ball into the top corner, leaving Rönnow unable to save.

90th +8th minute: Final whistle! Werder wins their home game against 1. FC Union Berlin. SVW will host 1. FSV Mainz 05 next weekend.

CONCLUSION

In an evenly matched first half, Werder had more possession, but both teams struggled to create chances. Therefore, the goalless halftime scoreline was a good reflection of the previous period. After the break, the visitors retreated even further until Grüll scored the winner with a perfect finish. The Green-Whites mastered the defensive work that was now required until the final whistle.

Statistics

SV Werder: Backhaus – Sugawara (Malatini 90′), Pieper, Coulibaly, Friedl – Lynen – Grüll (Stark 90′), Stage, Schmid (Njinmah 90’+3′), Mbangula (Puertas 85′) – Boniface (Topp 85′)

FC Union Berlin: Rønnow – Doekhi, Querfeld, Leite (Haberer 79′) – Trimmel (Jeong 79′), Khedira (Schäfer 61′), Kemlein, Köhn (Rothe 61′) – Burke, Ansah – Ilic (Skarke 29′)

Goal: 1-0 Grüll (72′)

Referee: Daniel Schlager

Attendance: 41,800 (sold out)