Füllkrug brace rescues 2-2 draw for Werder Bremen against Paderborn

Füllkrug brace rescues 2-2 draw for Werder Bremen against Paderborn

Werder Bremen had to battle back and save parity against a clinical SC Paderborn this afternoon at the Weserstadion. Two first-half goals from the visitors made for a chorus of whistles at the interval, but Niclas Füllkrug's brace ensured a share of the spoils.

First-half Paderborn lead

Making home advantage count in the initial exchanges, it seemed near inevitable that Bremen would open the scoring as Niclas Füllkrug flashed wide. Minutes later, only Nahuel Noll stood between Marco Grüll and Chucki from reasonably gilt-edged positions.

In a blink of an eye, however, Paderborn established a 2-0 lead. Grüll's mix up on the ball allowed Steffen Tigges to feed Stefano Marino. The 22-year-old driving into the right side of the box with speed before arrowing the ball into Karl Hein's top-right corner.

Things got even better for Paderborn when Tigges himself netted on the half-hour. Bremen's rearguard were caught napping, letting a long throw bounce into the box for a routine toe-poke finish. Another Noll parry crucially kept out Arthur before the interval.

Second-half comeback

Making one change at the break, Bremen's side halved the deficit just before the hour. A diagonal ball flicked on by Eren Dincki sat up nicely for Niclas Füllkrug to snap the ball inside the lower-left post. Suddenly the half-time boos made way for support.

Mitchell Weiser's bench impact proved telling 7 minutes later. His cross yielded a penalty after Laurin Curda's handball. Füllkrug stuck it away to take his season tally up to six.

Paderborn also emptied the bench, bringing on Pieringer, Baack, Phillipe and Müller. Bremen pushed to complete the comeback with Weiser and Arthur testing Noll from tight angles.

Paderborn also had their chances to snatch it late on. Four minutes of injury time left Rayan Philippe with a shot that struck the post and bounced ensuring it stayed a draw.