The Green and Whites overturned an early deficit away to Cologne on Matchday 3 to earn an impressive point, courtesy of Niclas Füllkrug’s second-half leveller.
After much speculation midweek following his comments on whether English starlet Mikey Moore could make a maiden Bundesliga start, Cologne head coach René Wagner stuck true to his notion that “anyone who can start in the Premier League can also start for us in the Bundesliga,” by handing the 19-year-old winger his first full Bundesliga bow.
Among the other changes made by the Billy Goats’ head coach from his side’s 4-1 thrashing away to VfB Stuttgart on Matchday 2, Dutch striker Thijs Dallinga, whose late brace proved decisive for the Cathedral City side as they came from behind at home to Hoffenheim in their season opener, likewise made his first start. The No.27 led the line in place of Ragnar Ache.
Elsewhere, Ellyes Skhiri also received the nod for the first time since returning from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer. Marius Bülter was the final change made by Wagner, with the pair displacing Paul Okon-Engstler and Jan Thielmann. Talisman Saïd El Mala was named amongst the substitutes after missing the trip to Stuttgart due to illness.
By contrast, Daniel Thioune named an unaltered Werder Bremen side for the first time of his tenure after the Green-Whites defeated RB Leipzig comprehensively last time out. Additionally, at the 52-year-old coach’s disposal was one Mitchell Weiser, who was named among the substitutes. The No.8 ultimately came off the bench in the 82nd minute to make his first appearance in 14 months after recovering from an ACL injury sustained in July 2025.
Despite looking promising in the opening exchanges – in which they had the first chance of the evening through Niclas Füllkrug – Werder found themselves in trouble almost immediately.
Dallinga’s shot struck the arm of Youri Regeer inside their box and the referee made no hesitation in pointing to the spot to award a penalty to Cologne, which Dallinga himself stepped up to take only for his effort towards the bottom left corner to be stopped courtesy of a fantastic save from Karl Hein.
Nevertheless, the home side were not dissuaded in their resolve to open the scoring, as Linton Maina smashed home into the same bottom left corner minutes later to round off a sweeping Cologne counter-attack, orchestrated by the duo of Tom Krauß and Skhiri, with the latter providing the assist.
However, as the half went on, Thioune’s men grew into the game, dominating possession but continuing to lack an incisive edge. Cologne, on the other hand, were comfortable to play on the counter, with Moore looking particularly lively – always driving at the Werder defence when in possession and showcasing his dribbling aptitude.
Bremen came out of the dressing room after half-time with renewed vigour. Twice inside ten minutes of the restart, the visitors tested Marvin Schwäbe, first through a low, driven shot by Olivier Deman before Chuki stung the keeper’s palms with a first-time close ranged effort.
The visitors then had parity within their touching distance when, in the 58th minute, Eren Dinkçi latched onto a Füllkrug cross before crashing a piledriver of a shot off the crossbar.
The Cologne goal may have been living a charmed life, but the hosts were by no means toothless in attack. Just past the hour mark, Moore once again picked the ball up at the centre-circle before driving half the length of the pitch and unleashing a curling effort towards the top left corner, which Hein tipped over the bar. The Bremen keeper was not out of the woods there either, being called into action from the resultant set piece by a volley from Gideon Mensah.
Regardless, with momentum well and truly on their side since the restart, Bremen struck the next blow. Chuki delivered a corner from the left, and though Jahmai Simpson-Pusey managed to block Amos Pieper’s initial header, Füllkrug was quickest to react to smash home the leveller from close range – his third in four competitive outings since re-joining Werder in the summer.
Füllkrug’s leveller from a Werder corner may be a worrying sign for those amongst the Cologne faithful, given last season they were the league’s most vulnerable team on set pieces, conceding 20 times, and now after just three matchdays, the Billy Goats have already conceded three in the same fashion.
Though Cologne fought to restore their lead late on, enjoying late chances courtesy of efforts from Marius Bülter and Ache, Werder’s goal would not be breached a second time and ultimately, the points were deservedly shared at the RheinEnergieStadion.
Player ratings:
Cologne:
Schwäbe (7) – Castro-Montes (6), Simpson-Pusey (6), Lochoshvili (6), Mensah (6.5) – Bülter (6.5), Krauß (6.5), Skhiri (8), Moore (7.5), Maina (7) – Dallinga (6)
Others: Sebastian Sebulonsen (6), Ísak Jóhannesson (5), Ragnar Ache (6), Saïd El Mala (5), Paul Okon-Engstler (-)
Werder Bremen:
Hein (7.5) – Arthur (7), Pieper (6), Friedl (6), Deman (6.5) – Reis (6), Regeer (5) – Dinkçi (6.5), Chuki (8), Grüll (6) -Füllkrug (7.5)
Others: Dariusz Stalmach (5), Mick Schmetgens (5), Cedric Itten (5), Mitchell Weiser (5), Paul Erevbenagie (-)
GGFN Player of the Match | Ellyes Skhiri (8)
On his first Bundesliga start since his return to the Cathedral City in the summer, the Tunisian was instrumental in the middle of the park for Cologne.
In addition to providing the assist for the hosts’ opener, Skhiri covered the most ground of any player on the pitch (13.3km), as well as winning the most duels of any Cologne player (12). His work rate, and ability to orchestrate everything from the heart of midfield earned allowed the defensive midfielder to claim the honour, despite stiff competition from teammate Moore and Werder’s Chuki.
GGFN | Sam Carey, live from Cologne’s RheinEnergieStadion.
