Werder Bremen secured their first win of the season by beating Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1 in the Bundesliga at Weserstadion this evening.
Granit Xhaka had the first effort of the game for the away side when he forced a fine stop from Bremen goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald, and the visitors had another chance to strike first when the goalkeeper denied Raffael after the striker was fed by Oscar Wendt.
Anthony Ujah, scorer of Bremen's equaliser at Hertha Berlin last weekend, should have put his name on the scoresheet again when he somehow headed over the bar from close range as Werder enjoyed a prolonged spell of possession.
Their pressure was rewarded six minutes before the whistle when Marvin Schulz brought down Ujah in the box, and Aron Johannsson stepped up to convert from the spot and break the deadlock.
That lead lasted only until first-half injury time, however, as Lars Stindl swivelled in the box and fired home via a deflection to ensure parity was restored at the break.
Bremen regained their lead inside 10 minutes of the restart when Janick Vestergaard headed home from a corner, and they could have added a third when Ujah smashed wide from outside the penalty area.
A superb pass from Xhaka should have yielded a second equaliser when Patrick Herrmann shot wide after being put clean through on goal, before substitute Andre Hahn tested Wiedwald after another fine Xhaka pass.
Felix Kroos missed a glorious opportunity to wrap things when he fired wide from the penalty spot after Xhaka was sent off for bringing down Assani Lukimya in the box, but the home side held out for their first win of the season to leave Monchengladbach bottom of the Bundesliga with three defeats from three games.
Tom Nightingale
