Bundesliga: Dortmund collapse as Bremen stage crazy comeback

Borussia Dortmund 2-3 Werder Bremen
(Brandt 45+2, Guerreiro 77' - Buchanan 89', Schmidt 90'+3, Burke 90'+5)
Westfalenstadion

Werder Bremen produced one of the great Bundesliga comebacks to beat Borussia Dortmund with goals in the 89th, 93rd and 95th minutes.

Oliver Burke's dramatic winning strike added to goals by Lee Buchanan and Niklas Schmidt to expose a fragile Dortmund defense. All three scorers were second half substitutes introduced by Bremen coach Ole Werner, and all three goals scored in front of the Südtribüne.

The grandstand finish had followed a shaky performance by Dortmund that had seen them somewhat fortuitously 2-0 up, with goals by Julian Brandt and Raphael Guerreiro putting a positive spin on an uninspiring display.

Although the lead had flattered the hosts, seeing out the win and three points that would have maintained their 100% start to the season seemed like a formality. Bremen had other ideas though, somehow turning defeat into victory in the dying minutes in an astonishing climax.

Dortmund captain Marco Reus, stunned by what had just happened, was at a loss to explain his team's collapse: "I have no idea how that could happen," he told Sky Sport Germany. "We had no control of the game, especially in the second half, despite the 2-0 lead. It was too wild. Then they score the equalizer in the 89th and come back again. The whole game, we didn't play well."

'Pure emotion, it was madness'

Bremen coach Werner, the Bundesliga's youngest coach at 34, introduced Buchanan and Schmidt as a double change in the 70th and Burke nine minutes from the end; all three players turned the tide in a tactical masterstroke by the former Holstein Kiel head coach.

"A compliment to the players who came in and turned the game around for us," Werner said of the trio. "For us, it was a team success that came about in the last five minutes in an incredibly spectacular way. The players who came off the bench were eager to show themselves. That led to us turning it around in the end. The bottom line is that it was deserved."

Werner led the celebrations in front of the traveling support in Dortmund as the rest of the stadium was stunned into silence - he admitted that leading his team to that kind of victory was a dream come true.

"I'm actually a sober, reserved sort," Werner said, reflecting on the game. "Experiencing these moments in a stadium like this is what you became an athlete for. It's a childhood dream for everyone involved to be able to play in a stadium like this. When you have a game like that, it's the icing on the cake."

He added: "The last minutes were pure emotion, it was madness. That can't be explained rationally."

'Brutally stupid'

From a Dortmund standpoint, it was a crushing way to lose and a defeat that could leave a scar. 

Coach Edin Terzic was honest in his appraisal, admitting that his team only had themselves to blame for losing the game in the manner that they did.

"You have to be honest: It was a deserved defeat," said Terzic. "We didn't play a good game. It was a very weak performance from us.

"We didn't manage to control the game, kept allowing chances. Still, if you lead by two goals until the 88th minute, you simply have to win the game. The way we then catch the goals is brutally stupid and brutally annoying. Now we're empty-handed."