Late Fullkrug strike sees Werder Bremen end Dortmund's perfect start in Bundesliga

Dortmund’s fine start to the campaign would have had their fans dreaming of lifting the famous Meisterschale trophy in May, as they faced a Bremen team showing promising signs of improvement after last season’s disappointing 15th-place finish.

Niko Kovac’s side created an early chance when Marcel Sabitzer’s effort rose over the bar, and they were dictating most of the possession in the first half. 

Werder showed a genuine threat on the counterattack, but were dealt a blow when Amos Pieper was forced off injured and replaced by Oskar Wojcik.

In truth, the game took a while to spark into life after neither managed to muster a shot on target in the opening 41 minutes.

The emphasis was on BVB to force the issue, and the hosts were given a clear warning as Ludovit Reis’s angled strike flew just past the far post.

Sabitzer was then inches away from breaking the deadlock for Dortmund with a free-kick that hit the stanchion behind the goal.

The Yellow Wall had another reason to get excited moments later, as Karl Hein made a brilliant one-handed stop to deny Maximilian Beier with half-time approaching.

Kovac’s men upped the ante after the break, with Hein twice called into action to keep out awkward deflected efforts from Nico Schlotterbeck and Ethan Nwaneri.

Following further chances for Beier and Nwaneri, Fullkrug almost inflicted a sucker punch against his former employers when he was denied by Gregor Kobel from close range. 

But Heim was certainly the busier of the two goalkeepers, and made another superb stop to keep out Nwaneri’s effort.

Following up Serhou Guirassy’s header, the Arsenal loanee was arguably unfortunate not to have broken the deadlock for Dortmund when his sensational overhead kick was ruled out for an infringement in the box.

But the hosts gave Werder a taste of their own medicine with a goal on the counterattack, as Guirassy raced down the right flank and played a ball into the box, which Fabio Silva scuffed before Daniel Svensson slid home.

It was a fitting way for the Swede to mark his 50th Bundesliga appearance, before Schlotterbeck headed home from Joey Veerman’s corner to double their lead five minutes later.

However, Schlotterbeck inadvertently gave Die Werderaner a route back into the contest when his stray pass was intercepted, allowing Reiss to rifle home an impressive finish in the 88th minute.

It looked like the hosts had done enough to claim all three points, but Fullkrug struck in his fourth successive Bundesliga game with a bullet header from Marco Grull’s floated delivery to seal a share of the spoils.

The result means Werder have incredibly managed to recover from 2-0 down to avoid losing in three of their previous five trips to Dortmund.

Meanwhile, this result for BVB means they missed the chance to win their first five league games of a season since 2015/16 on a hugely frustrating evening for the hosts.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund)

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