Dortmund Stunned at Home with 3-Goal Comeback from Bremen

Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v Werder Bremen - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - August 20, 2022 Werder Bremen team members celebrate after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v Werder Bremen - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - August 20, 2022 Werder Bremen team members celebrate after the match. (Reuters)
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Dortmund Stunned at Home with 3-Goal Comeback from Bremen

Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v Werder Bremen - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - August 20, 2022 Werder Bremen team members celebrate after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v Werder Bremen - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - August 20, 2022 Werder Bremen team members celebrate after the match. (Reuters)

Borussia Dortmund conceded three late goals from the 89th minute to lose 3-2 to Werder Bremen in its first Bundesliga defeat of the season on Saturday.

Scottish forward Oliver Burke scored the winning goal in the fifth minute of injury time, two minutes after Niklas Schmidt had equalized. English defender Lee Buchanan started the remarkable comeback when he scored in the 89th for the promoted visitors.

Dortmund, which was outplayed for much of the game, looked on course to win 2-0 thanks to speculative goals from Julian Brandt in first-half injury time and Raphaël Guerreiro in the 77th. They were the home team’s first and second shots on target.

Dortmund’s much-vaunted offense looked short of ideas against Bremen, who had the best chances of the first half through Marvin Ducksch, back at his hometown club.

But Brandt scored just before the break, when the Bremen-born midfielder eluded a couple of defenders just outside the penalty area before shooting inside the far post.

Bremen remained the better side, having a penalty appeal waved away before Niko Schlotterbeck made a crucial block to deny Anthony Jung.

Dortmund coach Edin Terzić reacted with three substitutions with 30 minutes remaining, among them American Gio Reyna, who came on for his first competitive appearance since April 8, when he reinjured his right hamstring after less than two minutes in Stuttgart.

Guerreiro’s goal was another long-range effort. Bremen 'keeper Jiri Pavlenka wasn’t helped with his own defenders blocking his view.

Buchanan began Bremen’s comeback amid some indecisive defending and the visitors pushed on in injury time.

Bayer Leverkusen slumped to its third consecutive Bundesliga loss – after being knocked out in the first round of the German Cup – when sharp-shooting Hoffenheim racked up a 3-0 win.

Christoph Baumgartner scored early with his heel when he was one of two Hoffenheim players facing seven Leverkusen defenders, Andrej Kramaric made-2-0 in the 35th and Georginio Rutter scored with a brilliant shot from distance in the 78th.

Leverkusen hadn’t played badly and the home team’s afternoon was summarized when Kerem Demirbay hit the post with a free kick.

Schalke forward Simon Teerode squandered two penalty opportunities in a 0-0 draw in Wolfsburg.

Koen Casteels saved Teerode’s first effort, but the Schalke forward was given another chance as the Wolfsburg ’keeper had moved off his line. Casteels then also saved the next effort – within the rules this time.

Vincenzo Grifo’s early goal was enough for Freiburg to win in Stuttgart 1-0, and Mainz won 2-1 in Augsburg.

Union Berlin was hosting Leipzig later.



Premier League Rejects City Request to Delay Next Season’s Games after Club World Cup

Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Manchester City - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - September 28, 2024 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Manchester City - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - September 28, 2024 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts. (Reuters)
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Premier League Rejects City Request to Delay Next Season’s Games after Club World Cup

Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Manchester City - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - September 28, 2024 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Manchester City - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - September 28, 2024 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts. (Reuters)

The Premier League has rejected Manchester City's request to postpone the first two games of the 2025-26 season to help the players recover after their FIFA Club World Cup campaign in the US, the club's manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.

City and Chelsea are the two English clubs who have qualified for the expanded month-long Club World Cup set to start on June 15. The Premier League's season will begin in August.

An increasingly packed football calendar has been a concern among a growing number of players and managers. A report by global players' union FIFPRO said some players get only 12% of the year to rest.

The Premier League did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.

City midfielder Rodri said in September that players could be close to strike action over the time they are required to play. A knee ligament injury has since put him out for the season.

"I don’t know if we will play more games than the treble year (2022-23)... maybe we'll play less games," Guardiola told reporters.

"The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery. Thank you so much. They don't postpone these games so that will be the moment of, oh, what do we have to do?"

He said the Club World Cup will make it even more difficult for clubs to manage player workload.