Ten-men Bremen share spoils with Heidenheim in Bundesliga relegation playoffs

BERLIN - Werder Bremen and, second division side, Heidenheim played out a goalless stalemate in the first leg of the Bundesliga relegation playoffs on Thursday.

The "Green-Whites" started the game on the front foot and enjoyed 70 percent of the possession in the first half. But for all that, it was the visitors from Heidenheim who posed a greater threat in the first 45 minutes, where goal-scoring opportunities were at premium.

Heidenheim's Tim Kleindienst produced the best chance of the first half, albeit from offside position, after unleashing a long-rage hammer to test Bremen goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka with 25 minutes played.

The uninspired hosts controlled the ball, but failed to come up with ideas to overcome Heidenheim's well-positioned 'bulwark'.

After the restart, the relegation battle started where it left off, as Bremen continued to dominate possession but lacked in penetration, whereas Heidenheim lurked for chances to catch the hosts flat-footed.

However, Bremen came close as Yuya Osako's header just missed the target in the 78th minute, before Fin Bartel's low shot on target forced Heidenheim custodian Kevin Muller into action five minutes later.

Bremen had to complete the game with ten men after captain Niklas Moisander received his marching orders following his second bookable offence with just three minutes to the final whistle.

Despite having a numerical disadvantage, Bremen almost stunned the lower league side but Marnon Busch blocked Joshua Sargent's shot to an almost empty goal in the 90th minute.

The best chance of the clash fell to Heidenheim as Timo Beermann nodded just wide of the far post from a promising position in the dying seconds of the injury time.

"We have to be honest. We staged a poor performance today. Heidenheim played very well but failed to score while we played very badly, but did not concede a goal on home soil. If we score in the second leg, things will look differently," said Bremen head coach Florian Kohfeldt.

With the result, Werder Bremen takes a clean sheet into the second leg at Heidenheim on Monday.