Bremen strikes late twice to beat Wolfsburg and pile pressure on coach Simonis

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Wolfsburg's Coach Paul Simonis gesticulates on the touchline during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Werder Bremen and VfL Wolfsburg in Bremen, Germany, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (Carmen Jaspersen/dpa via AP)

Bremen's Romano Schmid, top, fights for the ball against Wolfsburg's Vinicius Souza during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Werder Bremen and VfL Wolfsburg in Bremen, Germany, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (Carmen Jaspersen/dpa via AP) — Wolfsburg's Coach Paul Simonis gesticulates on the touchline during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Werder Bremen and VfL Wolfsburg in Bremen, Germany, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (Carmen Jaspersen/dpa via AP)

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4:00 PM on Friday, November 7

The Associated Press

BREMEN, Germany (AP) — Werder Bremen scored twice in the last 15 minutes to beat Wolfsburg 2-1 at home in the Bundesliga on Friday.

Wolfsburg’s recent record dropped to seven losses in eight games and will pile the pressure on coach Paul Simonis.

Simonis was hired in June after taking Go Ahead Eagles to a surprise Dutch Cup win but he has found life difficult at his new club. Its poor league form was accompanied by a defeat at home to second-tier Holstein Kiel in the German Cup.

Yet visiting Wolfsburg started brightly and when Swedish striker Mattias Svanberg finished off a nice counterattack in the 28th minute it looked like a rare win might be on the cards.

However, Bremen dominated the second half and Jens Stage’s clever downward header leveled the scores with seven minutes remaining.

Then Samual Mbangula took advantage of poor defending to volley a spectacular winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

Bremen climbed into seventh place while Wolfsburg was 12th.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer