Bundesliga
Hoffenheim picked up their first win in almost a month thanks to a dominant performance in a 4-0 victory at home to Werder Bremen on Sunday.
Hoffenheim 4-0 Werder Bremen
Goals: 1-0 Bebou (26'), 2-0 Baumgartner (44'), 3-0 Dabbur (49'), 4-0 Rutter (90')
Sebastian Hoeneß’s side pushed Borussia Dortmund all the way last week, only to be denied late on in a 2-2 draw, but the win never appeared in much danger this time. The hosts were sharper from the off, and while Christoph Baumgartner’s early effort straight at Jiri Pavlenka from 12 yards out was a squandered opportunity, it was also a sign of things to come. Chris Richards headed narrowly over from a free-kick before Ihlas Bebou gave Hoffenheim the lead, beating the offside trap to latch onto Diadie Samassekou’s long ball over the defence and coolly stroke it past Pavlenka. Baumgartner gave the hosts a deserved two-goal cushion at the interval when he surged between Ömer Toprak and Marco Friedl on the edge of the area to poke in his team’s second on the stroke of half-time.
Hoffenheim put the game beyond Bremen’s reach early in the second half when Bebou scampered down the right wing to cross from the byline into the middle, where the unmarked Munas Dabbur was lurking, and the Israel international made no mistake from six yards. Bremen coach Florian Kohfeldt responded by making two attacking changes, bringing on top scorer Niclas Füllkrug and Yuya Osako to breathe fresh impetus into his side’s forward forays, but it was another substitute – Hoffenheim's Andrej Kramaric – who went closest to getting his name on the scoresheet when his close-range shot from another Bebou cross was deflected wide. The home side shifted down a gear or two in the closing stages, the points already in the bag, and had little trouble keeping an off-colour Bremen side at bay. They added further gloss to the scoreline late on when 18-year-old Bundesliga debutant Georginio Rutter rifled in from the edge of the area as Hoffenheim moved above their visitors in the table.
Watch: Bebou: "I'm happy about every goal I score"
Hoffenheim: Baumann (c) - Adams, Grillitsch, Richards - Kaderabek (Bogarde 81'), Rudy (Adamyan 81'), Samassekou, John - Baumgartner (Rutter 87') - Bebou (Sessegnon 87'), Dabbur (Kramaric 61')
Unused subs: Pentke, Brenet
Out: Akpoguma (hamstring), Bicakcic (knee), Gacinovic (ankle), Geiger (hamstring), Hübner (ankle), Nordtveit (foot), Posch (not included), Skov (knee), Stafylidis (shoulder), Vogt (suspended)
Coach: Sebastian Hoeneß
Bremen: Pavlenka - Veljkovic, Toprak, Friedl - Gebre Selassie (c), Eggestein, Möhwald (Füllkrug 56'), Agu - Bittencourt (Osako 56'), Rashica (Mbom 69') - Sargent (Dinkci 82')
Unused subs: Zetterer, Selke, Moisander, Schmid, Groß
Out: Erras (muscular), Plogmann (knee)
Coach: Florian Kohfeldt