Protests cause delays again, Werder loses on the anniversary

Enlarge image

Tennis balls in Berlin: The game at Union was interrupted for a long time

Photo: Michael Taeger / Jan Huebner / IMAGO

Fans also caused game interruptions on the 21st matchday of the Bundesliga. At Union Berlin (

the game is currently still ongoing

), in Gladbach and in Augsburg the ball rested for a long time, and there were protests elsewhere. Spectators threw objects onto the field out of anger over the league's investor plans (read more on the subject here). But football was also played – and Werder Bremen celebrated its 125th birthday. The overview:

The game in Berlin is currently still running, but at one point it was about to be canceled. When the score was 0-0, tennis balls flew onto the field from the Union block for the first time after 27 minutes. Referee Matthias Jöllenbeck whistled the game again after eleven minutes, but had to stop the game again after a few seconds due to repeated throws.

Both teams were sent to the locker room. The game continued after a break lasting around half an hour. Five minutes after the restart, the game had to be interrupted again, this time tennis balls flew out of the Wolfsburg fan block.

»We are so close to not being able to continue playing the game. It is the referee team's last attempt to bring this game to an end," said stadium spokesman Christian Arbeit over the stadium microphone before the game continued again.

In terms of sport, Danilho Doekhi scored the only goal of the game so far (45th + 26th). The second half is currently underway in Berlin.

In Frankfurt the focus was more on sport: both teams created a few chances - and scored early. First, Eintracht attacker Omar Marmoush gave the hosts the lead (14th minute). Just three minutes later it was Moritz Broschinski who equalized for Bochum. As the game progressed, there were opportunities on both sides, the better of which went to Frankfurt. But it remained a draw.

Both teams were slow to get into the game. The Leipzig team increasingly took control, but after a short interruption due to fan protests, the home team took the lead. RB keeper Péter Gulácsi let a long-range shot bounce forward, the ball landed at Philip Tietz, whose direct shot hit the far corner (35th). Loïs Openda equalized with his 15th goal of the Bundesliga season. The Belgian sneaked between the two FCA central defenders and headed in a cross from David Raum (39').

After the break, Augsburg's defense was once again inattentive to a cross and Benjamin Šeškos scored with his head (52'). The hosts responded with Ermedin Demirović: The attacker, who was once trained by RB, moved inside the penalty area and hit the ball under the crossbar (60th). In the 81st minute, Leipzig had the chance to win. However, Finn Dahmen saved a penalty from Openda, which the goalkeeper himself was responsible for due to his impetuous entry.

125th club anniversary, the legendary strikers Ailton and Ivan Klasnić were guests in the stadium: Werder Bremen had reason to celebrate before the start of the game, but after kick-off only the guests were allowed to cheer. First Lennard Maloney headed a corner from set-piece specialist Jan-Niklas Beste into the goal (12th minute), then Werder loanee Eren Dinkci marched down the right wing. Bremen's goalkeeper was able to fend off his shot from a tight angle, but he was powerless to respond to Beste's follow-up shot (18th).

Werder scored the next goal less than two minutes later: a cross sailed into Heidenheim's five-yard box, where Romano Schmid headed it in (19'). The game became quieter in the second half before Bremen began to push for an equalizer. However, Rafael Borré only hit the post (77th). With the win, Heidenheim moved past Werder in the table and is now eighth. Bremen is in tenth place.

The first leg at the Böllenfalltor ended in a spectacular 3:3, the next meeting in Gladbach was much less climatic. Borussia barely managed to get close to the Darmstadt goal, and the bottom team also managed little offensively. Because tennis balls were thrown onto the field, the match had to be interrupted for 13 minutes.

After the break it remained a game with few goal area scenes. Substitute Patrick Herrmann slipped a few centimeters past a cross (76th minute), and Oscar Vilhelmsson failed for the Darmstadt team from a tight angle (78th). Darmstadt remains bottom of the table and is now level on points with Mainz 05, who play at VfB Stuttgart on Sunday (3.30 p.m.). Gladbach remains 13th in the table.

bka/mlb