Goals from Theodor Gebre Selassie, Max Kruse, and Maximilian Eggestein gave SV Werder Bremen a big 3-0 win over FC Schalke 04.

SV Werder Bremen 3-0 FC Schalke 04

Goals:1-0 Gebre Selassie (24’), Kruse (76’ Pen.), Eggestein (80’)

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The visitors were the ones who came out of the gate strongly, pushing the tempo and going close early through Alessandro Schöpf. It was Werder who got on the board first, however, after a Theodor Gebre Selassie header looped past Ralf Fährmann in the 24th minute.

Bremen seemed keen to stoke the passions of a raucous home crowd in the second half, and with a quarter of an hour left they got their just deserts. Benedikt Höwedes fouled Fin Bartels in the box and Max Kruse’s thundering penalty brought the margin to two; four minutes later Maximilian Eggestein had stretched it to three.

Man of the match

Max Kruse’s name may only appear on the scoresheet once but he was as much a handful against Schalke as he has been the whole of the season’s second half, drawing defenders with darting runs and setting up his teammates with pinpoint passes.

Talking point

Alexander Nouri’s men grabbed another vital three points to extract themselves from the Bundesliga relegation conversation here...and might just be ready to think about Europe. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise - they’ve been the league’s fourth-best side in the Rückrunde.

Match stats

Max Kruse has more goals (8) in 16 games since joining Bremen than he scored in 32 matches for Wolfsburg last season (6).Werder have recorded clean sheets in their last three home matches, having managed just one in their previous 29 outings at the Weserstadion.The loss on MD27 is Schalke’s first defeat in Bremen in eight years.

Line-ups

Werder:Wiedwald - Veljkovic, Moisander, Caldirola, Gebre Selassie - Delaney (Eggestein 46’), Grillitsch - Junuzovic (c), Garcia - Pizarro (Bartels 60’), Kruse (Kainz 89’)

Coach: Alexander Nouri

Schalke: Fährmann - Kehrer, Höwedes (c), Nastasic - Schöpf, Stambouli, Goretzka, Caligiuri - Meyer (Konoplyanka 62’), Choupo-Moting (Huntelaar 62’) - Burgstaller (Di Santo 86’)

Coach: Markus Weinzierl

Head here for the Werder vs. Schalke Match Centre!