Werder fall to 4-2 defeat | OneFootball

Fans at the Weserstadion witnessed an entertaining game between SVW and BMG (Photo: W.DE).

Match report following home game against Gladbach

SV Werder Bremen fell to a 4-2 defeat in an entertaining match against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday afternoon. After the visitors went 2-0 up thanks to a brace from Alassane Pléa (7', 28'), the Green-Whites managed to fight back to draw level at half-time after goals from Romano Schmid (38') and André Silva (45'+1). Borussia were then able to retake the lead shortly after the change of ends, as Pléa completed his hat-trick (47'). Tim Kleindienst then scored a fourth for the visitors late on (81').

Line-up and formation: Head coach Ole Werner was forced to make one change to his starting line-up due to Mitchell Weiser's suspension, as Issa Kaboré replaced him against Borussia. Marco Friedl was included in the matchday squad for the first time since straining his MCL.

Starting line-up: Zetterer, Jung, Pieper, Stage, Silva, Veljkovic, Lynen, Burke, Schmid, Agu, Kaboré

Subs: Backhaus, Ducksch, Bittencourt, Njinmah, Grüll, Köhn, Malatini, Friedl, Topp

Werder fight back to draw level at half-time

Schmid cut the deficit with a well-taken free kick (Photo: W.DE).

First-half highlights:

7th minute: Veljkovic fouls Hack inside the box as the referee points to the spot. Alassane Pléa steps up and converts his spot-kick to put Borussia ahead.

28th minute: Pléa doubles Gladbach's lead after fcatching Werder on the break.

38th minute: 2-1! Lynen wins possession in front of the box and plays the ball to Stage, who is then fouled. Schmid steps up to take the free kick from a promising angle in front of goal, catching Omlin on the wrong foot to cut the deficit!

40th minute: SVW are pressing hard in search of an equaliser. Kaboré plays a cross to Burke, who is able to flick the ball on to the far post with his heel. Agu runs onto it but fluffs his chance from close range.

45th minute +1: Silva gets the ball into the box before Kaboré is able to get off a shot. His effort is blocked by Ullrich, who then fouls the full-back on the edge of the box. After consulting with VAR, the referee points to the spot! Silva steps up to take the penalty for SVW, coolly slotting home to draw level.

Borussia score twice after the break

Friedl was able to make his comeback after being sidelined for six weeks with injury (Photo: W.DE).

Second-half highlights:

47th minute: SVW lose possession during the build up and Gladbach quickly take advantage, as Pléa completes his hat-trick early on in the second half.

64th minute: Stage is able to get a head to Agu's cross into the box, but it's hit just a little too high and instead goes bouncing off the crossbar. Shortly after, Schmid's curling effort from the edge of the box goes just wide.

81st minute: Pléa cuts the ball to Kleindienst in front of goal, with the striker only needing to stick out his foot to turn in a fourth goal for the Foals.

88th minute: Topp takes aim with a volleyed attempt, but his shot is blocked.

90th minute +6: Full time. SV Werder fall to a 4-2 defeat against Borussia.

Summary: A high-scoring affair at the Weserstadion ended in a 4-2 loss for the Green-Whites. Werder struggled to carve out chances for themselves after the break, as Borussia regained the lead early on in the second half. Following the international break, Werder will be back in action against Holstein Kiel on Saturday, 29th March (15:30 CET).

Match stats:

SV Werder: Zetterer, Jung, Pieper, Stage, Silva (67' Njinmah), Veljkovic, Lynen (67' Lynen), Burke, Schmid, Agu, Kaboré.

Borussia Mönchengladbach: Omlin (71' Pereira Cardoso), Itakura, Weigl, Kleindienst, Plea, Sander (89' Reitz), Ngoumou (69' Cvancara), Hack, Ullrich (69' Netz), Scally, Elvedi

Goals: 0-1 Pléa (7'), 0-2 Pléa (28' Min), 1-2 Schmid (38'), 2-2 Silva (45'+1), 2-3 Pléa (47')

Referee: Timo Gerach

Yellow cards: Lynen

Red cards: Kleindienst (second yellow)

Attendance: 42,100 (sold out)