Clinical Leipzig prevail on Ole Werner’s return to Bremen

Strikes in either half from Nusa and Rômulo proved decisive for Ole Werner on his return to Bremen, as Leipzig overcame a first half largely dominated by the hosts before withstanding late pressure following Salim Musah’s stoppage-time consolation.

Bremen made the brighter start, with Justin Njinmah causing early problems in attack. The forward fashioned the game’s first opportunity after being picked out by Felix Agu, but could only drag his effort wide.

Despite Bremen’s early dominance, it was Leipzig who struck first after 15 minutes. The move stemmed from a Werder chance at the other end, as Romano Schmid was denied by Maarten Vandevoordt before the visitors quickly broke forward. Rômulo showed excellent hold-up play to bring others into the attack and, although his initial effort was blocked, the ball fell kindly to Nusa, who cut inside and fired a low strike beyond Mio Backhaus to give Leipzig the lead with their first shot on target.

After a brief spell of Leipzig pressure, Bremen regained control and continued to threaten. Cameron Puertas came close just past the half-hour mark, producing a sharp turn to evade Ridle Baku and Willi Orbán before driving into the box, only to drag his effort narrowly wide of the far post.

The hosts went close again eight minutes before the break. Leonardo Bittencourt slipped Schmid through on the left side of the area, but Vandevoordt once more stood firm at his near post. Despite trailing, Daniel Thioune’s side headed into the interval with clear momentum.

That momentum, however, was undone just seven minutes into the second half. Bremen lost possession high up the pitch, allowing Christoph Baumgartner to surge into the box. Agu did well to recover and make a challenge, but the loose ball fell to Rômulo, who made no mistake with a composed first-time finish to double Leipzig’s advantage.

In contrast to their lively first-half display, Bremen struggled to create clear-cut chances after the restart, with Leipzig largely in control. The visitors nearly added a third late on when Yan Diomande attempted an audacious chip over the advancing Backhaus, but his effort drifted just wide.

Bremen did find a breakthrough deep into stoppage time. Substitute Salim Musah was played through by Schmid and showed composure to slot past Vandevoordt for his first goal for the club.

However, it proved to be little more than a consolation. Leipzig held firm in the closing moments to secure a valuable 2-1 win, boosting their top-four ambitions, while Bremen remain nervously looking over their shoulder near the bottom of the table.