Werder Bremen dominated from start to finish against a very poor Paderborn performance. Zltako Junuzovic's wonderful costless-kick was the only goal in a dominant first-half performance. It wasn't until Davie Selke and Fin Bartels scored within two minutes of each other that the game was ensured, with Levent Aycicek adding a delightful volley to earn the hosts a deserved 4-0 win.
Paderborn, following a dramatic comeback against Borussia Dortmund, wanted to build upon a strong finish to that game. André Breitenreiter was making an early case for manager of the season, although he would be without Uwe Hünemeier. He was out with an infection, so Christoph Heinloth came in and that allowed Rafa to move to centre-half. Lukas Rupp and Idir Ouali were dropped, meaning Patrick Ziegler and Elias Kachunga could return to their usual starting positions.
Bremen were desperate to bounce back from their Nordderby defeat to eternal rivals Hamburger SV. It was also the first loss of Viktor Skripnik's time in charge and he was struggling for left-backs for this trip, with Santiago Garcia out of the game. That meant youngster Janek Sternberg was thrown in at the deep end, replacing the Argentine. Sebastian Prödl's return, at the expense of Assani Lukimya, was a massive boost. Clemens Fritz was replaced by Levent Aycicek, after the captain's red card and Nils Petersen dropped to the bench for Davie Selke.
It was Selke who seemed the most likely to open the scoring in the opening changes, although he was denied the change to do so with a debatable offside call. Florian Hartherz also cleared Zltako Junuzovic's shot off the line, as Bremen continued to press for an early opener.
They didn't have to wait too much longer, as the Austrian midfielder scored a world-class goal. Thirty-yards from goal, his costless-kick was inch perfect, as it curved straight into the top corner to give the hosts a deserved lead. A set-piece anyone would have been proud of, it highlighted the heightened confidence Bremen had under Skripnik.
Selke had another good chance to add to the lead, but Lukas Kruse stood strong and firm to deny his powerful shot. The youngster was proving a completely different proposition to Petersen and had it not been for some resolute defending, he would had the goal he deserved. Paderborn were beginning to come back into the game and although Kachunga and Süleyman Koc forced saves from Raphael Wolf, it was still a largely comfortable first-half for the hosts.
However, Paderborn would be punished for some poor marking straight after the break. A debatable costless-kick was awarded on the wing, which Junuzovic whipped in with great pace. It was flicked onto the post by Prödl, but the poacher-instinct within Selke had him in the perfect position to nod in his second goal of the season. Breitenreiter was livid with the decision and Bremen grabbed another goal almost straight away. This time Kruse failed to deal with a long-ball, as he punched the ball straight to the feet of Fin Bartels. He made no mistake, as he smashed the ball straight past the Paderborn 'keeper to heap more misery on the visitors.
Strenberg almost had his name on the score sheet, only for Kruse to redeem himself with a quite fantastic save. The game was drawing to a less than eventful close, though Bremen did lose a key player for their next game. Alejandro Galvez picked up his fifth yellow card of the season, meaning he'd miss the trip to Frankfurt next weekend. There was one more event of note, as Aycicek grabbed a goal.
The young midfielder picked up a lose ball in the box and rattled home a great volley to ensure the three points. The win took Bremen off the bottom of the table and into fourteenth place ahead of their trip to Frankfurt on Sunday. Paderborn remain in mid-table despite the hammering and will be confident of turning things around against Freiburg next Saturday.