Olympic hero Serge Gnabry’s competitive debut for SV Werder Bremen did not go as planned, with Werder losing their second game of the season. Coach Viktor Skripnik’s team suffered a 2-1 home defeat to FC Augsburg and remain bottom of the table after matchday 2.
Aron Johannsson had put the hosts in front shortly before half time from the penalty spot. Augsburg however responded strongly in the second half, equalising through Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and later took the lead as Konstantinos Stafylidis fired home with a powerful direct free-kick.
Gnabry showcases his skills
The Green-Whites were looking to steady the ship after a bad start to the season, having already been eliminated from the DFB Cup as well as being on the end of a 6-0 thumping by FC Bayern on matchday 1. Much of their hopes rested with new signing Serge Gnabry, who helped the German Olympic football team secure silver in Brazil this summer.
The former Arsenal player looked highly motivated and a solo-run just six minutes into the game was greeted by loud applause from the Werder fans. The 21-year-old worked hard in defence and was behind Werder's attacking spell towards the end of the first half. Ultimately however, he wasn't able to prevent his side’s third defeat in as many games in a competitive match this season.
Mainz let three-goal lead slip
FSV Mainz 05 made a mess of things in the final match before they begin playing in the Europa League. The Bundesliga team drew 4-4 against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim despite being 4-1 up at half-time. Mainz will have to up their game for the opening group match of the Europa League against AS St. Etienne on Thursday (19:00 CEST).
Pablo de Blasis (3’,23’), Jhon Cordoba (27’) and new signing Levin Öztunali (43’) all scored to give Mainz a 4-1 lead by half-time who have never scored four goals in a single half. The mood became dull after Gaetan Bussmann received a red card in the 57th minute.
After a difficult first half, Hoffenheim continued to push forward now that Mainz were down to ten men. Sandro Wagner scored Hoffenheim’s goal before the break but substitute Mark Uth (71’, 72’) and Ex-Mainz player Adam Szalai (84’) both scored to bring their team level.