German Bundesliga: Werder Bremen v Freiburg

Werder Bremen slumped to the bottom of the Bundesliga as Freiburg turned up the heat on their former coach Robin Dutt by securing a 1-1 draw at the Weser Stadion.

Vladimir Darida put the visitors in front from the penalty spot in the ninth minute, with Franco Di Santo getting the hosts back on level terms just after the half-hour mark.

There were no further goals, with Bremen wasting the best chances as both sides remained without a win after seven games of the season.

The result, coupled with Hamburg's 1-0 win at Borussia Dortmund, left Bremen rock-bottom of the standings heading into the international break.

Dutt may be forgiven for wondering why he ever left the peace and tranquillity of the Black Forest, considering the stress and pressure he is under at the other end of the country.

The expectations are understandably higher at a club which, until only a few years ago, was used to playing in Europe on a regular basis.

Freiburg actually tasted European football more recently than Bremen, appearing in the group stage of the Europa League last term, and they stole a march on their illustrious rivals on Saturday with an early spot-kick.

Sebastian Prodl tripped Maximilian Philipp, and Darida made no mistake from 12 yards.

Bremen responded before the home fans could vent too much anger, with Eljero Elia's lob pushed over by Roman Burki before Di Santo levelled.

There was nothing Burki could do to deny the Argentinian, who picked up Zlatko Junuzovic's pass to restore parity.

Jonathan Schmid rattled the post for Freiburg with a volley early in the second half, but the rest of the game belonged to the hosts and Elia.

The former Hamburg winger created chance after chance for his team-mates, Junuzovic and Di Santo guilty of wasting the best.

Di Santo did have the ball in the back of the net with 12 minutes to go, but the offside flag had already been raised to deny him a second goal and Bremen their first win of the campaign.

Instead, they will spend the next two weeks looking up at the rest of the division from the foot of the table.