Werder lose to Eintracht, suffer setback in bid to avoid relegation

Bremen, Germany, Jun 3 (efe-epa).- Werder Bremen stumbled to a 3-0 loss Wednesday against Eintracht Frankfurt in Bundesliga Matchday 29 action, a defeat that damages their hopes of avoiding relegation.

Florian Kohfeldt’s men had shown improvement since the resumption of the coronavirus-interrupted German-league season on May 16, having gone 2-1-1 and recorded seven points in four games.

But they gave up three second-half goals to the Eagles in Wednesday’s match at Weserstadion, a contest that was played behind closed doors due to the pandemic.

Werder had plenty of chances in the first half, nearly scoring in the 15th minute on a blast from the edge of the area by Dutch midfielder Davy Klaassen that visiting goalkeeper Kevin Trapp managed to save.

The home side then once again came up short in the final third eight minutes later, when forward Davie Selke squandered a golden chance to open the scoring on a counter-attack opportunity.

Werder kept pressing forward and clamored for a penalty in the 36th minute for a hand-ball in the area by Eintracht defender David Abraham, but a VAR review showed that the hosts were offside before the infraction occurred.

That decision was a harsh blow for Werder, who faltered in the second half and allowed Eintracht to take control down the stretch.

Although an apparent goal by Dominik Kohr in the 59th minute was disallowed for offside, the visitors opened the scoring two minutes later when Portuguese forward Andre Silva headed home a cross by Serbian midfielder Filip Kostic.

Late substitute Stefan Ilsanker then put the finishing touches on the victory when he gave Eintracht a 2-0 lead in the 81st minute and added one more insurance goal by scoring on a header off a free kick by Dutch midfielder Jonathan De Guzman in minute 90.

Afterward, the Austrian midfielder said the victory was more important than his brace.

“I just want to win, I don’t care who scores – honestly! It was decided by desire. Werder also had a lot of corners but we made the most of ours,” Ilsanker was quoted as saying on Eintracht’s website.

With the victory, the Frankfurt club (35 points) took over the No. 11 spot in the standings from Cologne.

Werder, who remain in second-to-last place with 25 points, will likely need to move past Fortuna Dusseldorf (27 points) or Mainz (28 points) to avoid automatic relegation to Germany’s second-division for the 2020-2021 season.

EFE-EPA

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