Mbangula guides Bremen past St.Pauli challenge

Werder Bremen took on St.Pauli this afternoon and it wasn’t long until the Weserstadion burst to life when the hosts snatched a 1-0 lead inside 2 minutes. Some smart play saw Njinmah cross into the box and although his ball was half-cleared by Eric Smith, Samuel Mbangula was on the edge of the box to hammer it into the left corner. 

Bremen spurned another great chance on 23 minutes when Cameron Puertas found Jens Stage from a set-piece delivery into the box. The Dane teed up the unmarked Karim Coulibaly who couldn’t keep his effort on target despite being unmarked. Nikola Vasilj did well to keep Stage at bay from range in the next attack. 

St.Pauli lacked efficiency in the final third throughout the opening half, but they almost clawed themselves level before the break. Louis Oppie threaded the perfect pass through to Martjin Kaars, but the Netherlands marksman dwindled on the ball for too long which allowed Felix Agu to block. 

The visitors from the Hanseatic city went in search of an equaliser immediately after the break. James Sands and Mathias Pereira Lage went close from respective chances, however Bremen managed to weather the storm and wrestle back some control of the midfield battle. 

Alexander Blessin introduced some fresh attacking options with 20 minutes remaining as Saliakas, Ceesay and Metcalfe came on – the latter tried his luck from range on 80 minutes but couldn’t test Hein. Although Covic was denied a chance to seal it at the death by Vasilj, Bremen hung on for a crucial victory.