Josh Sargent has been forced to wait over two months to earn a Bundesliga start for Werder Bremen, but made the most of his opportunity on Saturday.
Sargent didn’t score, but played 63 minutes as Bremen earned an important road win in their hopes for survival. A 1-0 triumph over Freiburg moved Florian Kohfeldt’s side to 21 points this season, now two points behind 16th place Fortuna Dusseldorf and six points from safety,
After only playing 19 minutes in Bremen’s 4-1 home loss to Bayer Leverkusen five days prior, Sargent got rewarded and put in a strong showing at an empty Schwarzwald-Stadion.
And breathe ?
HUGE win ??#werder #SCFSVW pic.twitter.com/jhpESZwjUv
— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) May 23, 2020
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Sargent won five duels, two fouls, three aerial battles, and made one recovery in attack. At 19-year-old, Sargent has had to bide his time with the first team at spells this season, but did well alongside Leonardo Bittencourt and Milot Rashica in the Bremen attack.
With three league goals and two assists this campaign, Sargent has showed glimpses of his growing talent while also earning important minutes in his overall development. The U.S. Men’s National Team striker may not have recorded a point on Saturday, but showed to Kohfeldt and the coaching staff he can put in professional performances during this crucial stretch of matches.
Bremen have eight league matches remaining and would certainly aim to get out of this relegation scrap as quickly as possible. The 16th place finisher in the German Bundesliga will take part in a promotion/relegation playoff with the third place finisher from the 2. Bundesliga.
The remaining schedule for Sargent and Bremen poses many tests including four matches against current top-eight sides. In addition, the club also have to travel to bottom-place Paderborn and 15th place Mainz in their final matches.
Up next is a home date with fourth place Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday, another opportunity for Sargent to help both his cause and his team’s during this relegation fight.