There were calls for Werder Bremen coach Alexander Nouri to be sacked after Sunday's 3-0 home drubbing against Augsburg left them winless in their first ten Bundesliga games.
Bremen remain second
from bottom with just five points after Austria international Michael
Gregoritsch netted twice for Augsburg at Werder's Weser Stadion amidst
cries of 'Nouri out!' after the final whistle.
Bremen
qualified for the Champions League as recently as 2010, but have
struggled to stay in Germany's top flight in recent seasons.
Nouri, 38, has been in charge since September 2016, but is in danger of becoming the third Bundesliga coach sacked this season.
Andries
Jonker was fired by Wolfsburg in September before Carlo Ancelotti was
shown the door by league leaders Bayern Munich, who beat RB Leipzig 2-0
at home on Saturday to top the table under his successor Jupp Heynckes.
In
Bremen, attacking midfielder Gregoritsch headed the opening goal on 40
minutes, then Iceland striker Alfred Finnbogason converted a penalty as
Augsburg went into the break 2-0 up.
"The goals before half-time took the wind out of our sails," said Bremen defender Niklas Moisander.
"We have to stick together - the performance was embarrassing."
Gregoritsch
grabbed his second on 61 minutes with some clinical finishing after
Rani Khedira -- brother of Germany star Sami -- started a counter
attack.
With a perfectly-timed run into the box perfect, Gregoritsch fired home to put the game beyond Werder.
"You
could say that was the perfect afternoon for us," beamed the
23-year-old Gregoritsch as Augsburg enjoyed their first win in five
league games to go ninth.
"We scored at the right times."
Later,
Turkey defender Caglar Soyuncu was sent off in controversial fashion
just 12 minutes into Freiburg's 3-0 defeat at Stuttgart.
Soyuncu, who was the last defender, accidentally handled the ball while jostling with Stuttgart striker Daniel Ginczek.
With
Stuttgart fans howling in protest, the ref stopped the game and - after
a minute's delay - showed Soyuncu a red card, on advice from the video
assistant referee.
The decision enraged the Freiburg bench, especially coach Christian Streich.
To add insult to injury, Ginczek gave Stuttgart the lead on 38 minutes.
French
defender Benjamin Pavard made it 2-0 with a header just before
half-time before replacement striker Simon Terodde netted Stuttgart's
late third.
"I talked to the referee at
half-time, according to him it was a clear goal chance, which I didn't
think much of," fumed Freiburg's manager Jochen Saier.
"After
a 50-second interruption of the game - I say: 'Congratulations,
Cologne'," he added sarcastically, referring to the Cologne office where
VAR decisions are made in the Bundesliga.
The defeat leaves Freiburg just above the relegation places while Stuttgart are 12th.
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