Füllkrug converts late penalty to shockingly move Werder 4th
In a battle of clubs surprisingly both in the top half of the table, Werder Bremen yet again provided late drama to steal three points away against Hoffenheim and incredibly move to 4th in the Bundesliga table.
Werder traveled to Hoffenheim in an intriguing Friday night matchup to open Matchday 9. It was a brilliant game between two clubs constantly open at the back due to their willingness to attack, as Niclas Füllkrug came up huge to give his newly-promoted side yet another victory.
Robert Skov put several shots wide to kick things off with Hoffenheim pushing hard offensively early on. But, Werder were the ones to strike first.
After what's been a worrying scoreless period, Marvin Ducksch linked up with Füllkrug in the 18th minute to score his second goal in just two games. Similar to how nearly every Werder game has gone so far this season, there was constant, exciting up-and-down action from the start.
Werder overcommitted offensively and Mu'nas Dabbur finished off a sudden counterattack to claim Hoffenheim's equalizer in the 32nd minute. Christoph Baumgartner hit the post seconds later in a surprising Hoffenheim resurgence, as Werder were beginning to look like the more potent side.
It was a wildly open first half, as Ole Werner's side were going to have to be cautious with several players on yellow cards heading into the second period.
Hoffenheim created several excellent opportunities shortly after halftime, but couldn't get any past Jiri Pavlenka. Tensions rose as the game wore on, as seen when Werder players begged for a penalty after Stanley Nsoki's challenge on Mitchell Weiser.
After a video review, that's exactly what they got. Füllkrug scored his Bundesliga-leading 8th goal of the campaign from the spot in the 86th minute to earn Werder yet another late victory.
Despite the late set-piece efforts from Angelino, Hoffenheim couldn't please their home supporters with a win. They play Schalke on Matchday 10 and temporarily move to 6th in the league, while Werder are shockingly up to 4th and next face Mainz.