A new national player wasn’t enough. Despite Marvin Ducksch’s next goal, Werder Bremen lost a 2-0 lead in a 2-2 (1-0) draw against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Sunday. Within ten minutes, Frankfurt equalized with goals from Ellyes Skhiri (65th minute) and Hrvoje Smolcic (75th). They extended their series to eight competitive games without defeat. Two days after his first international call-up, Ducksch gave Bremen the lead with a penalty kick (45th + 1). His strike partner Rafael Borré, on loan from Frankfurt, made it 2-0 in the 49th minute.
Bremen are continuing to take small steps away from the relegation places and are enjoying the attention that another striker is bringing them after the sale of Niclas Füllkrug to Borussia Dortmund: the 29-year-old late starter Ducksch. At Dortmund, SC Paderborn and Fortuna Düsseldorf he once failed to establish himself as a first division striker. At Werder, however, Ducksch has already scored 16 Bundesliga goals in less than a year and a half since promotion in 2022.
It was also easy to see against Frankfurt what his club coach Ole Werner and national coach Julian Nagelsmann apparently also see in him: an attacker who is not only self-confident and strong, but also very intelligent in the game. Ducksch repeatedly evaded the guard of his opponent William Pacho on Sunday. At the end of the first half he came closer to the goal almost every minute. In the 40th minute he couldn’t get Borré’s preliminary work under control. Shortly afterwards, his shot from 16 meters flew towards the upper tier. In stoppage time, Ducksch still grabbed the ball after Ansgar Knauff fouled Jens Stage and confidently converted the penalty.
Eintracht only became dangerous after the break and were superior in the second half. Both teams had chances to score the winning goal. Skhiri awarded the best for Eintracht (83′). At Werder, Ducksch failed in the 90th minute.