Ten-man Werder Bremen staged a dramatic late fightback to snatch a 3-3 draw against Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Erik ten Hag’s side looked to be on course for victory after Patrik Schick struck twice either side of USMNT star Malik Tillman‘s effort to open up a 3-1 lead following the sending off of Niklas Stark.
The hosts rallied to set up a grandstand finish through Isaac Schmidt and Karim Coulibaly completed the fightback for the hosts at the Weserstadion in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
The result leaves Leverkusen still awaiting their first league win of the season.
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Romano Schmid had kept Bremen in the game with a penalty late in the first half.
Coulibaly had been at fault as Bremen grabbed the lead after five minutes. He gave the ball away in midfield and Nathan Tella raced to the byline to pull back for Schick to strike.
They doubled the lead when a cross took a deflection and looped invitingly towards debutant Tillman, who controlled on his chest and calmly volleyed past Mio Backhaus.
Bremen got back into the game before the break when Axel Tape fouled Samuel Mbangula in the area and Schmid struck from the spot.
Leverkusen appeared to have struck a decisive blow after Stark fouled Christian Kofane to incur a second yellow card and Schick calmly scored from the resulting penalty.
But Leverkusen goalkeeper Mark Flekken misjudged a long punt upfield and was caught outside his area by Schmidt, who nodded the ball past him and then rolled into the empty net.
The comeback was completed in the closing minutes as Coulibaly pounced after Senne Lynen had hit the woodwork.
