Werder Bremen attacker Niclas Füllkrug has submitted the next World Cup application to national coach Hansi Flick and Schalke 04 shot even deeper into the crisis in the duel of the unequal promoted team. The Knappen lost in the second game under the new coach Thomas Reis unhappily 1: 2 (0: 1) and conceded the seventh Bundesliga bankruptcy in a row – negative club record.
Füllkrug (30th) used one of the few Werder chances – and then had to be substituted in the 60th minute. The 29-year-old had repeatedly grabbed his lower back before but found the strength to talk to fourth official Harm Osmers indignantly.
Marvin Ducksch (76th) increased to 2-0 – in the middle of a Schalke urge phase. Substitute Dominick Drexler (89th) shortened for the guests.
Werder are gradually establishing themselves at the top with their sixth win of the season and are now seventh in the table with 21 points. Schalke remains last, the gap to 15th place is already five points. And the Royal Blues have also set an unsightly Bundesliga record: only Karlsruher SC previously managed 35 away games in a row without a win.
“We want to leave the last place in the table,” Reis said before the game: “There’s something possible in every game.” And despite all the recent setbacks and the six injuries – including left-back Thomas Ouwejan – Schalke initially put a lot of pressure on, forcing Werder to lose the ball with pressing. The supposed lead by Alex Kral (16th), which would have been anything but undeserved, was not given according to video evidence.
Werder Bremen: Filling pitcher hits out of nowhere
Bremen suddenly cheered out of nowhere in front of 42,100 spectators: And again, Füllkrug scored. The World Cup candidate completed a Werder counterattack to his tenth goal of the season from close range, Mitchell Weiser and Ilia Gruev had prepared the goal wonderfully. Flick should have liked Füllkrug’s final strength. Before that, the green-whites had hardly even approached the goal.
Despite the setback, Schalke didn’t fall apart, Kral (37′) and Simon Terodde (38′) had good opportunities to equalize shortly afterwards. Werder continued to struggle and didn’t have the right structure in the game. The guests continued to have better chances, such as Kral again (66′).
