Darmstadt dispatch Bremen in riveting six-goal encounter
Sunday’s Bundesliga action kicked off with the meeting of Darmstadt and Werder Bremen. With two wins and two draws from four previous meetings with the visitors, Thorsten Lieberknecht would be hopeful of causing an upset. His Lilien-elf did just that as goals from Bader, Skarke, Mehlem and Kempe secured a 4-2 win.
Darmstadt raced out of the blocks in the Merck-Stadion this afternoon. Their stunned hosts merely bystanders in a half dominated by the hosts. ‘Die Lilien’ were ravenous, and none more so than Matthias Bader who broke the deadlock inside 5 minutes. He fired past Pavlenka with a cushioned instep volley. Marvin Mehlem’s cross to the back post was inch perfect.
Union Berlin loanee, Tim Skarke, made it 2-0 twenty minutes later. Bremen’s commitment on the right flank left them exposed. Fabian Nurnberger sent his teammate into space, and the 27-year-old curled home expertly. Bremen uncharacteristically toothless for the entire half.
So much so, Ole Werner made a double change after the break – Njinmah and Woltemade thrusted into the fray. But it would be Mehlem who turned scorer next to put the hosts 3-0 up. Pieper’s error pounced upon and the midfielder cooly chipped to the net.
Further Bremen misery ensued when VAR spotted a Christian Gross handball. Tobias Kempe’s rather tame skipping off the turf and over Pavlenka’s forearm. Weiser and Deman combined to reduce the deficit on 70 minutes – the latter nodding home Weiser’s cross. A second goal from Veljkovic who turned home Ducksch’s pass on 78 minutes made it 4-2. Bremen’s vigour returning but not enough to complete the comeback. Darmstadt rising out of the relegation spots in doing so.