Josh Sargent on target as Werder Bremen see off 10-man Arminia Bielefeld
Josh Sargent scored for the third consecutive Bundesliga match on Wednesday night as Werder Bremen beat hosts Arminia Bielefeld 2-0.
Arminia Bielefeld 0-2 Werder Bremen
Goals: 0-1 Sargent (47'), 0-2 Möhwald (75')
Red card: de Medina (71')
Hosts Bielefeld made the brighter start and settled into proceedings right away and they nearly took the lead in just the eighth minute. Marcel Hartel's inswinging corner from the left was superbly flicked-on by Manuel Prietl at the near post but Amos Pieper mistimed his jump and could only head off target from inside Bremen's six-yard box. Ritsu Doan - restored to the starting lineup after being named among the substitutes by Frank Kramer in the 0-0 draw with Union Berlin that marked the new coach's first game in charge - was next to go close but his left-footed effort destined for the bottom corner was well blocked by Omer Toprak. Milot Rashica and Sargent both had wayward efforts at the other end, but the visitors were unable to carve out any chances of real note as things remained goalless at the break.
It took less than two minutes after the restart for Bremen to change all that, though, as Sargent tapped home Raschica's deflected cross on the Bielefeld goal-line to make it 1-0. The home side were almost level less than 10 minutes later, but both Doan and Hartel were denied in quick succession from close range. Bielefeld tried to force their way back into proceedings but, like Bremen in the first half, struggled to create clear cut chances. Their hopes of getting back into the game were dealt a further blow when, with less than 20 minutes remaining, substitute Nathan de Medina was shown a straight red card. And within four minutes of de Medina being given his marching orders, Bremen had their second as Kevin Möhwald stroked home from close range to kill the game off.
Watch: Josh Sargent: "I just had to tap it in!"
Match stats
- Defeat at the Schüco Arena means Arminia have now gone four matches without a league win on home soil (D1, L3).
- It is also the fourth match in a row that Bielefeld have failed to find the back of the net, while they have conceded eight times during that period.
- Bremen are now unbeaten from their last three visits to Bielefeld (W1, D2) in the Bundesliga.
- Sargent scored for the third Bundesliga match in succession; the best goalscoring run of his career.
- USA international Sargent is now Bremen's top-scorer in the top-flight this season, with five league goals.
- Möhwald, meanwhile, is one back from his teammate after scoring in the league for the fourth time this term.
Line-ups
Bielefeld: Ortega (c) - Brunner, Pieper, Nilsson, Laursen (de Medina 52') - Kunze (Schipplock 75'), Maier (Gebauer 75'), Prietl - Doan, Hartel (Vlap 62') - Voglsammer (Klos 62')
Unused subs: Linner, van der Hoorn, Okugawa, Seufert
Out: Cordova (head), Soukou (knock)
Coach: Frank Kramer
Bremen: Pavlenka - Veljkovic, Toprak, Friedl - Gebre Selassie (c), Eggestein, Bittencourt (Möhwald 64'), Agu (Augustinsson 46') - Schmid (Groß 85'), Rashica (Selke 83') - Sargent (Füllkrug 64')
Unused subs: Dos Santos, Moisander, Mbom, Osako
Out: Plogmann (knee), Zetterer (elbow)
Coach: Florian Kohfeldt
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