Niclas Füllkrug headed a stoppage-time equaliser against his former club as Werder Bremen came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at league leaders Borussia Dortmund, ending the hosts' perfect Bundesliga start on Matchday 5.
Match facts
- Result: Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Werder Bremen (half-time 0-0)
- Competition: Bundesliga, Matchday 5
- Venue: Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund
- Scorers: Dortmund - Svensson 80', Schlotterbeck 85'; Bremen - Reis 88', Füllkrug 90+2'
- Red cards: None
- Player of the match: Karl Hein (Werder Bremen)
- Next: Borussia Dortmund visit Bodø/Glimt on 14 October; Werder Bremen host SC Paderborn on 17 October
How the match unfolded
Dortmund controlled large spells after the international break but were repeatedly denied by Bremen goalkeeper Karl Hein. Niko Kovač started Jobe Bellingham and Marcel Sabitzer, with Julian Ryerson unavailable, while Daniel Thioune named an unchanged Werder side for a fourth game running.
The visitors lost Amos Pieper to injury in the 19th minute, with Oskar Wójcik coming on for his second Bundesliga appearance. Bremen still created early openings: Olivier Deman's shot was blocked and Ludovit Reis curled narrowly wide. Dortmund answered before the break — Sabitzer's free-kick skimmed just wide, and Hein produced a strong save to deny Maximilian Beier after Ethan Nwaneri's clever pass.
After the restart Dortmund pinned Bremen back. Hein saved again from Nwaneri, and Gregor Kobel kept out Füllkrug when the striker ran clear after a long clearance. A Nwaneri overhead kick was chalked off after Christian Dingert had already blown for a foul.
The breakthrough finally came in the 80th minute. After Beier won the ball high up the pitch and Serhou Guirassy beat Marco Friedl, Fabio Silva's scuffed finish fell kindly for Daniel Svensson, who steered home from close range. Five minutes later Nico Schlotterbeck headed in a Joey Veerman corner to make it 2-0, with the goal standing after a VAR check.
Bremen struck back immediately. In the 88th minute Wójcik intercepted a loose pass and Reis drove in from the edge of the area, the shot going in off the base of the far post. Deep into stoppage time, Füllkrug rose unmarked to head in Marco Grüll's free-kick for 2-2 against the club he left in 2023.
What the draw means
Dortmund remain top of the Bundesliga but dropped their first points of 2026/27 after four straight wins. A fifth successive victory would have matched their best-ever start under Thomas Tuchel in 2015/16. Hein was named player of the match after seven saves.
For Bremen the point continues an impressive run: they are unbeaten in four and had already overturned a 0-2 deficit to beat Augsburg 3-2 earlier this season. Füllkrug has now scored in four consecutive matches since returning to Werder, and this was his first goal against Dortmund.
"We dominated the opponent for 88 minutes," Kovač told Sportschau. "You cannot let a game like that slip out of your hands." Füllkrug said the equaliser mattered less for the rivalry than for keeping Bremen's momentum: "It was especially important that we take something with us and stay in the flow."