Werder Bremen on Sunday were staring at relegation from the Bundesliga after a 1-0 home defeat to VfL Wolfsburg, while Union Berlin edged toward safety on a day that featured a renewed show of solidarity with the global protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Wout Weghorst headed home the decisive goal for Wolfsburg eight minutes from time to push his team back up to sixth and into the UEFA Europa League spots.
The Netherlands international’s 12th league goal of the season came just seconds after Xaver Schlager crashed a shot off the bar and it leaves Werder, the team with the most seasons in the Bundesliga, facing the drop for the first time since 1979-1980.
Photo: AFP
“It is very disappointing, but everything is still possible. We will give everything until the end,” Werder captain Niklas Moisander told DAZN.
With four matches left, Florian Kohfeldt’s side are second from bottom, six points from safety and three from the relegation playoff place following back-to-back home defeats.
Werder are the league’s lowest scorers with 30 goals and have won just once at home all season, losing 11 times.
They travel to bottom side SC Paderborn 07 at the weekend in a match that could be decisive for their survival. They then face league leaders Bayern Munich the following weekend and relegation rivals FSV Mainz 05, who are just outside the drop zone after they won 2-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, three days later.
The match began after both teams gathered round the center circle at the Weser-Stadion before dropping to one knee, echoing a gesture made on Saturday by Borussia Dortmund and Hertha BSC players, and Mainz midfielder Pierre Kunde Malong.
Union Berlin and Schalke 04 players then did the same before their 1-1 draw in the German capital.
Favorites to go down in their first ever Bundesliga season, Union are 14th on 32 points, seven ahead of Werder, who occupy the final automatic relegation place, and four away from the relegation playoff spot.
However, Union striker Anthony Ujah failed in his attempt to score and take the knee himself, as he had promised he would do on Saturday, but he did set up Robert Andrich’s neat 11th-minute opener.
Union are level on points with Augsburg, who snatched a late draw at home to Cologne thanks to Philipp Max’s 88th-minute equalizer, just three minutes after Anthony Modeste had fired the away side into the lead.
Cologne are 12th on 35 points after a draw which also saw Florian Niederlechner miss a first-half penalty for Augsburg.
Schalke, who grabbed a point at Union thanks to a fierce Jonjoe Kenny strike in the 28th minute, have failed to win in 12 league games and are 10th, seven points from the Europa League places.
“It’s a tough situation we’re in, but it’s a good step to come away and get a point at a difficult place to come,” English goalscorer Kenny said.
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