SV Werder Bremen opened the 8th matchday of the Bundesliga with a 1-0 win over Union Berlin. Marco Grüll scored the decisive wonder goal in the 72nd minute. The victory moves Werder to eleven points, overtaking Union which has ten.
SV Werder Bremen secured a narrow home win against Union Berlin, earning three points in the mid-table. The match ended 1-0 (0-0), with Marco Grüll's curling shot into the top corner making the difference. It was the starting debut for star striker Victor Boniface, on loan from Bayer Leverkusen, but the Austrian Grüll became the hero.
Before kickoff, the Bremen crowd paid tribute to Max Lorenz, the 19-time international who won the championship and DFB-Pokal with Werder in the 1960s. Lorenz had passed away at age 86 on the day of the match.
Sportingly, the game started evenly. Werder had more possession, but interplay with Boniface was still rough. Boniface missed a long-range shot (16th minute), and Grüll's dipping ball was saved by Union's goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow (28th minute). Union had to make an early change: Striker Andrej Ilić complained of feeling unwell and was replaced by Tim Skarke (29th minute).
The best chances before halftime fell to Union. Ilyas Ansah missed from 20 meters (43rd minute), and Danilho Doekhi's header from a corner went just wide (45+1). After the break, Jens Stage fired over (48th minute), but action remained scarce. Then came the game's highlight: Grüll dribbled from the right past Diogo Leite, curled the ball onto the crossbar and in (72nd minute).
With eleven points, Werder now overtakes the Berliners on ten points. Both teams remain in the secure mid-table.