Take a knee /Bundesliga teams continue anti-racism gesture before games
Four more Bundesliga teams took a knee before their games yesterday, as Werder Bremen inched closer to relegation and Schalke’s winless run became their worst for 27 years.
Borussia Dortmund and Hertha Berlin first kneeled ahead of their game on Saturday in an anti-racism gesture following mass protests against police brutality and racism across the United States over the killing of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man, in Minneapolis on 25 May.
Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen followed their example in yesterday’s opening game. Union Berlin and Schalke – whose midfielder Weston Mckennie was the first in Germany to protest last week – also kneeled ahead of their 1-1 draw. The referee and his assistants joined in.
Wolfsburg beat Bremen 1-0 to take a step towards the Europa League while Werder move closer to relegation from the Bundesliga.
They were heading for a largely uneventful 0-0 draw in torrential rain before the 82nd minute, when Wolfsburg substitute Felix Klaus curled in a cross from the right and Wout Weghorst met it with a bouncing header into the Bremen goal.
The result leaves Bremen in 17th place and facing relegation.
Bremen are six points off safety and three off Fortuna
Dusseldorf in the relegation play-off spot. Wolfsburg climbed above Hoffenheim into sixth place and a Europa League spot.
Union and Schalke kept their unwanted records of not having won since the league restarted amid the coronavirus pandemic. While Union were happy with a point to edge away from the relegation zone, Schalke were again frustrated as their winless run hit 12 games in all competitions.
Robert Andrich gave Union the lead on a rapid counterattack but Schalke answered with a powerful long-range strike from Jonjoe Kenny, the right-back on loan from Everton.
Cologne’s Anthony Modeste
thought he’d given his team their first win since the Bundesliga restart when he volleyed the ball in from the edge of the box against Augsburg in the 85th minute.
It wasn’t to be as Philipp Max tapped in a cross at the far post to earn a 1-1 draw in the 88th minute. Cologne are 12th and Augsburg 13th.