Bittencourt fires Bremen past Bielefeld

Werder Bremen 1-0 Arminia Bielefeld
Goals: 1-0 Bittencourt (27')

Bremen dominated the early proceedings, barely allowing their visitors a touch of the ball, yet Josh Sargent, Bittencourt and Ludwig Augustinsson all failed to capitalise on dominant positions in the final third. Indeed, the first shot of the game came at the other end, with Fabian Klos firing straight at Jiri Pavlenka in the home goal. Bittencourt then steered the ball beyond the Czech shot-stopper's opposite number Stefan Ortega, but what might have been his first goal of the campaign was ruled out for offside. His frustration didn't last long, though, the winger finishing from close range after Jean-Manuel Mbom had skilfully steered Marco Friedl's cross into his path. Manuel Prietl forced a corner from a Ritsu Doan free-kick, but the resulting set-piece came to nothing and referee Robert Schröder's whistle went with the score at 1-0.

Both teams were unchanged for the second half and Bremen continued to pile on the pressure, with Anderson Lucoqui booked for a foul on Niclas Füllkrug early on. Bielefeld found a second wind with the hour approaching, though, and after Cebio Soukou missed a gilt-edged chance to slip Klos through, Marcel Hartel found last season's 21-goal top scorer with a wicked cross, but Pavlenka kept his point-blank header out. Visiting coach Uwe Neuhaus attempted to turn the tide in the final 20 minutes with a pair of substitutes - Sven Schipplock replacing Sergio Cordova in attack; Jacob Laursen slotting in for Lucoqui at the back - but Florian Kohfeldt returned in kind soon after, with Tahith Chong and Christian Groß replacing Füllkrug and Davy Klaassen respectively. The fresh legs served Bremen the better, and they were able to hold on to seal their second win in as many games and pull into a provisional fourth.

• Bittencourt scored his fifth Bremen goal since his 2019 move from Hoffenheim, and first at the Weser Stadion.
• Twenty-year-old midfielder Mbom had his first Bremen assist in just his second game for the club.
• Bremen beat Bielefeld for the first time in five attempts in all competitions, although they won the last one 8-1 back in September 2007.
• This was Bielfeld's first defeat in 2020. The had won 10 and drawn eight of their 18 games coming into this fixture.
• Beaten today, Ortega remains the only goalkeeper to have registered two assists in four competitive games this season.

Bremen: Pavlenka – Gebre Selassie, Veljkovic, Friedl, Augustinsson – Mbom (Moisander 81'), M. Eggestein, Klaassen (c), (Groß 75') – Bittencourt (J. Eggestein 81'), Füllkrug (Chong, 75'), Sargent (Selke 81')
Unused subs: Kapino, Osako, Agu, Woltemade
Out: Rashica (knee), Toprak (calf)
Coach: Florian Kohfeldt

Bielefeld: Ortega – Brunner, Pieper, van der Hoorn, Lucoqui (Laursen 71') – Doan (Edmundsson 89'), Prietl, Hartel – Soukou (Yabo 88'), Klos (c), Cordova (Schipplock, 71')
Unused subs: Linner, Nilsson, Gebauer, Kunze, Seufert
Out: De Medina (knee), Müller (muscular), Voglsammer (foot)
Coach: Uwe Neuhaus