Samuel Mbangula’s stoppage-time winner completed a thrilling turnaround for SV Werder Bremen, who came from behind to beat VfL Wolfsburg 2-1 in the Bundesliga — condemning the visitors to their seventh defeat in eight matches across all competitions.

In what was billed as a key mid-table encounter, Werder’s growing confidence met a Wolfsburg side desperately seeking to halt their alarming slump.

The hosts started brightly, with Amos Pieper forcing Kamil Grabara into an early save from a Romano Schmid corner, before Marco Grüll fired narrowly over. Yet it was Wolfsburg who landed the first blow, finishing off a flowing counterattack as Adam Daghim slipped in Saël Kumbedi, whose low cross was neatly converted by Mattias Svanberg.

Christian Eriksen came close to doubling the visitors’ lead soon after, but his effort was pushed away by Mio Backhaus. At the other end, Schmid’s powerful long-range drive just cleared the bar on the stroke of half-time as Bremen searched for a response.

Schmid remained central to Bremen’s attacking efforts after the break, repeatedly testing Wolfsburg’s defensive resolve with dangerous deliveries. Grabara was called upon again to deny Grüll as Werder began to increase the pressure.

Their persistence was finally rewarded in the 83rd minute when Jens Stage met Yukinari Sugawara’s precise cross with a superb header to level the contest.

Grabara continued to impress, producing an outstanding save to keep out Sugawara’s near-post strike. But in the fourth minute of stoppage time, Bremen found the decisive breakthrough — Mbangula latching onto a loose ball and driving a superb angled finish beyond the Wolfsburg goalkeeper to seal a memorable victory.

The win gives Werder their third consecutive Bundesliga home triumph — their best such run since April 2019 — while Wolfsburg’s miserable form continues with a sixth league defeat of the campaign.