Werder Bremen beats Hoffenheim after trailing 3-0

Conceded three early goals? No problem for Werder Bremen at Hoffenheim. After the home team was sent off, the Bundesliga match took a crazy turn.

Thanks to a historic comeback in a rare sight in football, Werder Bremen exacerbated TSG Hoffenheim's crisis to the max. Led by Jens Stade's three-man side, the Hanseatic League won 4:3 (3:3) at the Kraichgauers after trailing 3-0 – Werder now registered their latest defeat, 5-0 to Bayern Munich. On the other hand, Hoffenheim suffered its fourth defeat in a row, and coach Pellegrino Matarazzo's chair shook alarmingly.

Danish stage with his first hat-trick in the Bundesliga (26/39/49) and Julian Malatini (21) scored for Bremen, who came back from three goals down for the first time since 1984. Mariusz Poulter with a double strike (5/8) and Adam Hlozek (12) It put Hoffenheim on the winning path early. But after TSG defender Stanley Nsoki received a red card for an emergency suspension (18th), the match was over.

Fights in the club

Matarazzo will be under a lot of pressure in next Sunday's match against his former employer Stuttgart – if he is still on the bench. The first match on Hoffenheim's schedule is the Europa League match against Dynamo Kyiv on Thursday. “My focus is on the boys on the field,” Matarazzo said shortly before kick-off about the quarrels that have been going on at the club for weeks.

Since the firing of long-time sporting director Alexander Rosen, Hoffenheim have been unable to calm down. Rosen's temporary successor, Frank Kramer, confirmed: “The structures are being discussed very intensively and decisions will be made relatively quickly. I am in constant contact with the coach three days after the 1-1 draw at the start of the Europa League.” Facing Danish champions FC Midtjylland, Hoffenheim started very well in front of 26,018 spectators at Sinsheim – despite the absence of ailing star striker Andrej Kramaric.

Friedel blocked

Poulter took the first chance to go ahead, and the striker followed up almost three minutes later. The hosts, who had to do without Ihlas Bebo, Daniel Jurassic, Ozan Kabak and Grisha Brummel as well as Kramaric, played impressively against Bremen in the early stages. Uli Werner's side, without suspended captain Marko Friedel, Justin Njinmah and Milos Veljkovic, were completely out of defence. After Poulter's preparatory work, Hlozek, coming from champions Bayer Leverkusen, scored his first goal for TSG.

Hoffenheim have never scored three goals so quickly. But even after that, the meeting did not calm down, on the contrary. First, Nsoki was sent off for the third time in the Bundesliga after an emergency stop against Felix Agu, then Malatini brought Werder back into the game. Bremen had more chances around goal, and first Stig was able to connect and then equalise. After the break, he continued the stage where he left off in the first section. Finally, his third goal turned the match on its head. After that, the level stabilized somewhat for the first time. (APA/DPA)