Essende brace puts Augsburg past Werder

Samuel Essende scored both goals as Augsburg beat Werder Bremen 2-0 in the final Bundesliga game of the weekend.

Augsburg secured their second consecutive 2-0 win by beating Werder Bremen at the Weserstadion on Sunday.

Samuel Essende made it 1-0 after just five minutes with a right-footed shot into the bottom left-hand corner.

Anthony Jung thought he had equalised in the 20th minute, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Twelve minutes later it was Jens Stage’s turn to put the ball in the back of the net for Werder, but again it was ruled out after Marvin Ducksch was adjudged to have been offside in the build-up.

Another decision went Augsburg’s way in the 41st minute. Kristijan Jakic was shown a straight red card for a last-man challenge on Ducksch, but the decision was overturned after a VAR review.

And soon after, Essende doubled his tally with a header into the corner of the net to make it 2-0.

Marco Grüll came agonizingly close to pulling a goal back for Werder in the 55th minute, but his shot hit the woodwork.

At the other end, the ball hit the woodwork just before the hour mark when a cross took a deflection and struck the crossbar.

As the second half wore on, Werder coach Ole Werner tried to get his side back into the game with a series of substitutions, but Augsburg held firm and held on for the win.

The result leaves Werder ninth in the Bundesliga table, while Augsburg are 12th.