Wout Weghorst brought up his 50th Bundesliga goal as Wolfsburg saw off Werder Bremen 2-1 on Saturday to shore up third place in the table.

Werder Bremen 1-2 Wolfsburg
Goals: 0-1 Sargent (o.g. 9'), 0-2 Weghorst (42'), 1-2 Möhwald (45')

Josh Sargent was on hot form for Bremen coming into this game, with three goals in four outings, but the USA striker had the ball in the net at the wrong end after Maximilian Arnold's early free-kick, with a Maxence Lacroix header deflecting off him and over Jiri Pavlenka for 1-0. The Czech keeper then parried another Arnold free-kick behind for a corner, before Weghorst got a first sniff after a neat ball through from Admir Mehmedi, clipping just wide of the post. The big Dutchman had netted twice in the reverse fixture – a barnstorming 5-3 win for the Wolves – and brought up his Bundesliga half-century before half-time after superb pressing from Xaver Schlager, coolly slotting past Pavlenka for 2-0. Kevin Möhwald, who was dispossessed by Schlager for that goal, then made amends by firing home a loose ball in the Wolfsburg area to give Bremen hopes of a comeback.

The visitors clearly had no intention of relinquishing their lead, and came out all guns blazing in the second half, with Josip Brekalo and Lacroix both going close. Weghorst then tested Pavlenka once again from the edge of the area, with the home keeper doing well to parry his effort and save from Kevin Mbabu on the rebound. Bremen weathered the storm and Florian Kohfeldt looked to inject some fresh energy with the introduction of Leonardo Bittencourt and Niclas Fullkrüg, but the Green-Whites never seriously threatened to rescue a point. There were half-chances for Fullkrüg and fellow substitute Davie Selke, but the impressive Wolfsburg rearguard held firm as Oliver Glasner's men moved onto 51 points, surpassing their tally from last season and consolidating third place in the table.

Match stats

• Weghorst scored his 50th Bundesliga goal in his 92nd outing. He becomes the fourth player to reach that mark for Wolfsburg after Edin Dzeko (66), Grafite (59) and Diego Klimowicz (57).
• The Dutchman has now netted in each of his last four meetings with Bremen, a total of five goals. With 17 for the season, he has equalled his personal-best tally from 2018/19.
• Möhwald is also enjoying his most prolific season in the German top flight with five goals. The midfielder is Bremen's joint top scorer with Sargent and Füllkrug.
• Sargent's own goal was his first in the Bundesliga in 63 appearances.
• None of the 24 Bundesliga meetings between these two sides in Bremen has ended goalless.
• Bremen have lost successive league games for the first time since losing four in a row between 27 November and 15 December 2020 - a run that started with the 5-3 reverse in Wolfsburg.

Watch: Weghorst: "Scoring goals is the most wonderful thing to do"

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Line-ups

Bremen: Pavlenka - Veljkovic (Agu 88'), Toprak, Friedl - Gebre Selassie (c), Eggestein, Möhwald (Osako 82'), Augustinsson - Schmid (Bittencourt 58'), Rashica (Selke 82') - Sargent (Füllkrug 58')
Unused subs: Dos Santos Haesler, Moisander, Mbom, Groß
Coach: Florian Kohfeldt

Wolfsburg: Casteels (c) - Mbabu, Lacroix, Brooks, Gerhardt - Schlager (Philipp 90'+5), Arnold - Baku, Mehmedi (Guilavogui 86'), Brekalo (Joao Victor 74') - Weghorst
Unused subs: Pervan, Roussillon, Bialek, Ginczek, Siersleben
Out: Otavio (suspended), Pongracic (calf), Steffen (ankle)
Coach: Oliver Glasner

About the clubs

VfL Wolfsburg

Volkswagen Arena

SV Werder Bremen

Weser-Stadion