Bundesliga
A couple of super strikes from Werder Bremen pair Jens Stage and Marvin Ducksch earned a second successive win for the Green-Whites and piled yet more pressure on relegation-haunted Stuttgart.
Stuttgart 0-2 Bremen
Goals: 0-1 Stage 59', 0-2 Ducksch 77' (assist: Füllkrug)
Having dropped into the division's bottom three following a victory for fellow-relegation strugglers Bochum on Saturday, Stuttgart new a response was needed against a revitalised Bremen side. The hosts started brightly. Serhou Guirassy - who would hobble out of this game in the first half - and Chris Führich kept goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka on his toes. Werder's last two away games had seen Ole Werner's team ship a combined total of 13 goals against Bayern Munich and Cologne and the River Islanders were keen to stop that rot at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Die Grün-Weißen slowly came out of their shells here and carved several openings before Ducksch's free kick narrowly missed the target. At the other end Pavlenka denied Führich once again, sending the teams in goalless at the break.
Werder ended a four-match losing sequence with an impressive win against Wolfsburg last weekend, when Niclas Füllkrug was twice on target. The Bundesliga's leading marksman was involved in his side's opener shortly before the hour mark here. Eyeing a looping Pavlenka kick-out, the Germany international battled his way into space. The Stuttgart defence desperate to intervene, Konstantinos Mavropanos stepped forth. However, the defender's poked clearance ran straight to Jens Stage who hoisted a first-time finish high past Florian Müller's despairing hand. Prior to this encounter, the visitors were winless against VfB in six games, losing four. When Marvin Ducksch played a neat-one-two with Füllkrug before swooshing a superbly-flighted strike from the left of the area into the top-right hand corner, Bremen had finally broken Stuttgart's spell.
Stuttgart: Müller - Anton, Mavropanos, Ito, Nartey (Sosa 70') - Haraguchi, Karazor, Endo (c) - Perea (Gil Dias 46') Guirassy (Pfeiffer 25'), Führich (Kastanaras 70')
Unused subs: Bredlow, Zagadou, Stenzel, Vagnoman, Egloff
Out: Silas (calf), Tomas (stomach)
Coach: Bruno Labbadia
Bremen: Pavlenka - Pieper (Veljkovic 79'), Stark, Friedl (c) - Stage (Salifou 90'+4), Bittencourt, Groß, Schmidt (Gruev 70'), Jung (Buchanan 90'+4)- Füllkrug, Ducksch (Dinkci 79')
Unused subs: Zetterer, Chiarodia, Berger
Out: Agu (patella tendon), Mbom (calf), Schmid (knee), Weiser (suspended)
Coach: Ole Werner