German Bundesliga

Mainz v Werder Bremen – LIVE from 17:30

Werder Bremen's Austrian defender Marco Friedl

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Werder Bremen celebrated their first win of the season in Germany's Bundesliga on Sunday! Despite a red card for captain Marco Friedl in the 60th minute, coach Ole Werner's side won 1-0 away to Mainz 05 at the end of the 3rd round on Sunday. Derrick Köhn, on loan from Galatasaray Istanbul, scored the decisive goal in the 69th minute, with ÖFB team player Romano Schmid providing the perfect assist.

The 24-year-old helped initiate a counter-attack, then showed the necessary dynamism, saw teammates on both sides and played an ideal pass to Köhn, who had only come on as a substitute two minutes earlier. It was Schmid's second assist of the season after his assist in the first round of the DFB Cup in Cottbus. Nine minutes earlier, Friedl, who was bandaged on his left hand, had made a last-man save in a duel with Jonathan Burkardt, first hitting the ball and then his opponent. The 26-year-old Tyrolean will therefore be suspended for two matches.

Mwene and Onisiwo without luck at Mainz
Before the break, Bremen's Marvin Ducksch (8th penalty) and Mainz's Lee Jae-sung (27th) had scored in front of 32,000 spectators. Like Schmid, Marco Grüll played almost the entire match for Bremen, but was substituted in the 91st minute after coming on as an early substitute in the 12th minute. For Mainz, Phillipp Mwene was unable to prevent the defeat and was replaced by his compatriot Karim Onisiwo in the 79th minute. However, he too was unable to turn the game around. Nikolas Veratschnig did not get any minutes on the pitch.

Even the fingers crossed by Mainz "noble fan" Jürgen Klopp in the stands did not help. The 57-year-old former Liverpool coach was coach at Mainz from 2001 to 2008.