SV Werder Bremen secured a real workmanlike victory at 1. FC Köln. Joker Justin Njinmah was the golden goalscorer – with a thickly bandaged ankle
Justin Njinmah watched the evening’s soccer in Cologne from the bench for the time being, with Bremen’s shooting star ousted from the starting eleven by Nick Woltemade. Ole Werner thus brought on a tall and physical striker alongside Marvin Ducksch instead of Njinmah, a fast counter-attacking striker. Woltemade was only able to register one goal, and the 22-year-old was off after 66 minutes.
Njinmah came into the game – with a clear mission. “The coaches told me to come in off the bench today and decide the game,” the Bremen man told DAZN Preis. And it didn’t take the joker long to put this into practice: Mitchell Weiser crossed into the penalty area from the right, Cologne keeper Marvin Schwäbe unhappily jumped past the delivery and Njinmah scored Bremen’s opening goal with his first touch of the ball. “I was surprised that the ball got through like that, but we always practise running through on crosses to the second post. “
As good as since Rehhagel
Bremen didn’t actually play a good game in Cologne, at least with the ball. But because Werder defended cleanly for the most part and were also lucky that a challenge in the penalty area by keeper Michael Zetterer against Luca Kilian was not deemed a foul, they ended up with their third 1-0 win away from home in a row – the last time that happened was in 1981/82 under Otto Rehhagel. “We’ve found ourselves. Training is more fun, the games are more fun and we’re getting into a flow. We can also win dirty games now,” said Njinmah about Bremen’s new quality
Friedl praises Werder’s new approach
After a shake-up in the summer, Werder now appear to have stabilized, partly because they have agreed on a clear direction on the Weser. “After the New Year, we sat down together and said that the path to success is defense. We’re always good for a goal,” said captain Marco Friedl, who prevented Cologne’s equalizer with a clearance on the line.
After 22 games, Bremen have already collected 29 points, which initially means seventh place – just three points behind the first international place. All would have been well on the Weser if it hadn’t been for the minor setback of Njinmah lying on the ground in pain after the final whistle.
The scorer of the winning goal was rudely straddled by Timo Hübers in the final minutes, twisted his ankle in the process and left the pitch with a thickly bandaged ankle. “I don’t think it’s too bad, I can still walk a bit. I twist my ankle a lot during the action. It just hurts so much,” said Njinmah, who will be examined more closely in the coming days.
