Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic enjoyed a winning debut as they narrowly beat Werder Bremen 2-1 away on Tuesday to earn their first win in four league games.
Terzic, a former Dortmund assistant coach, succeeded Lucien Favre who was sacked after their 5-1 demolition by VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.
It was by no means a changed team or radically improved performance, with a mistake leading to a Werder equaliser, but Terzic had made it clear they would attack and he gave 16-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko his first start.
"What was important was that we not only won but we defended the victory until the end," Terzic said. "Everyone worked hard. The boys that then came on, everyone. We were a team."
Raphael Guerreiro's 12th-minute volley gave the visitors a perfect start but the euphoria quickly fizzled out and Werder's Kevin Moehwald levelled with a powerful shot in the 28th after a mistake from Manuel Akanji .
Werder keeper Jiri Pavlenka was kept busy throughout, yet he clumsily crashed into Akanji in the 78th minute to concede a penalty. He did well to save Marco Reus's spot kick but was beaten by the Dortmund captain on the rebound.
The Ruhr valley club's first win since mid-November moves them up to fourth place on 22 points. Werder are 13th on 11.
"It is always important to come back with a win after such brutal defeats," Reus said. "We had to deliver. Hopefully we are back on track."
Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen, on 25, travel to Cologne on Wednesday, while champions Bayern Munich, a point behind in second place, host unbeaten VfL Wolfsburg.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Davis)
