Bittencourt's strike secures Werder's first win of the year | OneFootball

Bittencourt scored the only goal of the game before being forced off with injury (Photo: nordphoto).

Match report following home game against Mainz 05

SV Werder Bremen recorded their first win of 2025 after a 1-0 victory against 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Friday evening (31st January, 20:30 CET). The Green-Whites opened matchday 20 in front of a sold-out crowd of 42,100 at the Weserstadion. Leonardo Bittencourt scored the only goal of the night in the first half (14'), before the end of the match saw three red cards shown against the hosts.

Line-up and formation: Issa Kaboré was handed his first start in the Bundesliga, having come off the bench in each of the last four games. Head coach Ole Werner made three more changes to his side, bringing in Justin Njinmah, Niklas Stark and Leonado Bittencourt. Oliver Burke (knock to the knee) and Jens Stage (yellow-card suspension) were both unavailable for selection.

Starting line-up: Zetterer - Jung, Stark, Ducksch, Weiser, Bittencourt, Njinmah, Lynen, Schmid, Kaboré and Friedl.

Subs: Backhaus - Pieper, Veljkovic, Grüll, Köhn, Alvero, Nankishi and Covic.

Bittencourt scores before being forced off early on

Romano Schmid was unlucky to only hit the post early on (Photo: nordphoto).

First-half highlights:

1st minute: So nearly the opener! Weiser has time and space in midfield to deliver a cross to Schmid inside the box. The midfielder rises highest and sends a header towards goal, but is unlucky to only hit the woodwork.

12th minute: Zentner takes a heavy touch after a pass from Kohr, as Schmid chases it down. He's brought down by the goalkeeper, with the referee pointing to the penalty spot. Ducksch steps up to take it, but his attempt is parried by Zentner.

14th minute: Just two minutes later, Werder take the lead! Mainz are unable to clear a delivery into the box from Ducksch, as Bittencourt is able to poke the ball over the line from close range.

30th minute: Schmid wins possession inside Werder's half and picks out Ducksch with a beautiful pass over the FSV backline. Our number 7 looks to chip the ball over Zentner, but the goalkeeper is able to pluck it out of the air.

Werder hang on to earn all three points

Njinmah's chipped shot nearly went in (Photo: nordphoto).

Second-half highlights:

46th minute: Mainz go close shortly after the change of ends. A corner from Caci finds the head of Lee, but his attempt sails over the crossbar.

50th minute: The visitors continue to press us hard, as Weiper redirects a cross from Kohr towards. Zetterer stretches to push it away from danger.

61st minute: A close call for the Green-Whites as Jung gets in the way of a shot from da Costa, deflecting it just enough to push the ball onto the post.

76th minute: Grüll does well to send Njinmah through on goal. The striker looks to chip the ball over Zentner, but has to watch as his attempt lands on top of the goal-netting.

81st minute: Friedl jumps to meet a corner but Zentner beats him to the ball. The rebound falls to Alvero, but he's unable to sort his footing in time to poke it over the line.

90th minute +4: Stark tosses the ball to a teammate for a throw-in and is shown his second yellow card of the night for what the referee deems to be time wasting. Friedl approaches the referee to discuss the situation and is also shown a second yellow, this time for dissent. Werder are down to just nine men for the remainder of the match.

90th minute +8: Full time. Werder hold on to get their first win of the year! Following the full-time whistle, head coach Ole Werner becomes the third Green-White to be shown a red card this evening.

Next up, Werder will travel to face league leaders FC Bayern München on Friday, 7th February (20:30 CET).

Summary: Werder got off to a strong start and soon scored the opening goal, before going in search of more. The hosts were able to prevent Mainz from creating chances in the first half, but struggled against FSV's heavy press after the break. A hectic end to the match finished with Werder hanging on to earn their first win of the new year.

Match statistics

SV Werder: Zetterer - Stark, Friedl, Jung (86' Pieper) - Weiser, Bittencourt (36' Alvero), Lynen, Kaboré (70' Köhn) - Njinmah, Schmid - Ducksch (70' Grüll)

1. FSV Mainz 05: Zentner - da Costa, Bell (55' Leitsch), Kohr - Caci (82' Nordin), Sano, Amiri (46' Hong), Mwene (82' Widmer) - Nebel, Lee - Weiper (78' Sieb)

Goal: 1-0 Bittencourt (14')

Red cards: Stark (90'+3, time wasting), Friedl (90'+3, dissent), Werner (dissent following the full-time whistle)

Referee: Martin Petersen

Spectators: 42,100 (sold out)