Werder Bremen’s fight against relegation from the Bundesliga faltered on Wednesday after a 3-0 home defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt that leaves them mired in the drop zone.
Bremen have spent more seasons in the league than any other club, but with six matches left they are second-from-bottom, three points from safety and facing the prospect of dropping down a division after a resounding loss to Eintracht.
Andre Silva got the ball rolling for the away side in the 61st minute before two late goals from supersub Stefan Ilsanker pushed them up to 11th place.
The first half was keenly contested and Bremen thought they were going to be given a penalty for handball nine minutes before the break, but after a long VAR review the hosts’ midfielder Davy Klaassen was ruled as being offside in the build-up.
It was Frankfurt’s turn to be disappointed by VAR just before the hour mark when Dominik Kohr’s close range finish was ruled out for a tight offside, but they had their opener seconds later. Filip Kostic collected the ball on the left before whipping a perfect cross for Silva, who neatly guided his header past Jiri Pavlenka.
Ilsanker sealed the three points with nine minutes left when he tapped home fellow substitute Bas Dost’s flick-on from a corner with his first touch of the ball.
The Austrian then capped a fine team performance by heading home a free-kick from Jonathan de Guzman – who had come on for Mijat Gacinovic just seconds before – in the final minute.
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