Marvin Ducksch’s goals pull Werder Bremen back from the edge

Oh, to be a Werder Bremen fan. Consistent play is not necessarily their forte, but consistently toying with my emotions is.

Bremen have conceded 48 goals this season with only 14th-place Bochum outdoing them in that department, so the fact that they let in two against Gladbach isn’t shocking.

But here’s the kicker. Bremen’s performances haven’t been particularly disappointing. In fact, one might say they even look good. And with the likes of Niclas Füllkrug and Marvin Ducksch up top, goals shouldn’t be impossible to come by.

Lately, however, the scorelines have told a different story. My Bremen fan heart, which often seems to be a sucker for punishment, thought we were headed for another defeat before Ducksch’s level head and steady foot saved the day for Bremen and saved my afternoon mood.

Marvin Ducksch was everything you want your striker to be

A brilliantly timed run into space, patience to wait for the keeper to go to ground and the last defender to slide before outmaneuvering both, a simple side-footed finish into the back of the net…I give you Ducksch’s first goal.

Out-jumping the defender, a crisp give-and-go with Füllkrug, a perfectly placed far post shot escaping the outreached arms of the goalkeeper…an 89th-minute, game-saving goal number two.

As he should, Ducksch ran to the corner flag, threw his fist in the air, and celebrated with a positively beaming Füllkrug amidst eleven very mopey Gladbach players. In the 89th minute, down a goal, it was all and probably more than I could have hoped for.

So yes, I’m celebrating a tie — because Bremen kept themselves steady in the league table. Whatever cleats Ducksch wore seemed to be magic and he should absolutely keep wearing them for the rest of the season, and what the team lacked in defensive sharpness they made up for in cohesion up front.