With a lot of luck, TSG Hoffenheim got some breathing space in the relegation battle. Thanks to two goals within two minutes, the Bundesliga club has achieved its second victory in a row and gained a gap of three points to the relegation rank. The club from the southwest benefited from a long time weak performance of Werder Bremen and won at the Hanseatic 2:1 (0:0) at the end of the 26th matchday on Sunday evening in the Weserstadion.

Right at the beginning of the second half, Andrej Kramaric (50th minute) and Christoph Baumgartner (52nd) shocked the hosts and a large part of the 41,000 spectators in the sold-out stadium. The substitute central defender Amos Pieper (76.) scored the connection and the third header of the evening. For Werder, Maximilian Philipp hit the post in injury time. And because of an offside position of Mitchel Weiser, referee Sascha Stegemann took back an already given hand penalty.

Bundesliga top scorer Niclas Füllkrug, who successfully returned for the national team with three goals during the international break, remained pale and was symptomatic of an unfortunate performance by the Hanseatic team. The Hoffenheimers acted smarter, were more present in the duels and made fewer mistakes than the hosts. Bremen remain in midfield, but coach Ole Werner's team has been waiting for a win for four games now.

The point win also took pressure off the last counted Hoffenheim coach Pellegrino Matarazzo. The opponents from the southwest had previously won only one of the last eight league games. TSG has been fighting against relegation in the league for weeks.

Bremen too complicated

Of the "next attack" and "power, fury and energy" announced by Matarazzo, there was initially at least something to see, because the guests – in the initial phase the slightly more active team – came after losing the ball of the recovered Werder captain Marco Friedl (7th) and after a fine pass from Christoph Baumgartner to Ihlas Bebou (13th) to promising goal approaches.

In addition to Friedl, the recovered regulars Milos Veljkovic and Christian Groß returned to the starting eleven. For the guests from the southwest, defender Angelino and midfielder Finn Ole Becker started in comparison to the starting eleven in the 3-1 win against Hertha BSC for Robert Skov and Angelo Stiller, who were missing due to muscular complaints.

The Bremen team often seemed too complicated in the first half and attracted attention due to missed passes and ball losses. Marvin Ducksch (32.) had the first big chance of the game when he finished in the penalty area, but TSG goalkeeper Oliver Baumann parried quickly. In the same duel five minutes later, Baumann was also back on the spot.

The well-known long passes to DFB striker Füllkrug remained ineffective, as Hoffenheim's central defender John Anthony Brooks kept the upper hand in the air. Despite a better start from Werder, the Hoffenheimers took the lead. Kramaric and Baumgartner both scored with their heads and benefited from an overtaxed Bremen defence. Bremen were more powerful in the second half and came close again thanks to Pieper's header. In injury time, however, Bremen only hit the post, a hand penalty for Werder was not given because of an offside position.