Werder Bremen’s reserves can hold their heads high after being eliminated from the DFB Cup by German champions VfB Stuttgart in a game which finished 2:3 (0:3). The 10,310 strong crowd at the Weser Stadium saw the young Green-White eleven put up an unprecedented fight against the reigning Bundesliga title holders.
The Werder reserves made an impressive start to the game, forcing the heavily fancied guests back and almost taking an early lead through Martin Harnik but VfB keeper Raphael Schäfer was equal to the young striker’s effort. The Bundesliga side raised the tempo and by half time the visitors were 3:0 up thanks to a hat-trick from German international Mario Gomez.
The young Bremen side refused to throw in the towel and battled their way back into the tie in the second half but goals from Marc Heider (57’) and Dominic Peitz (71’) were not enough to cause a cup up-set. On a positive note for the Green-White faithful, Patrick Owomoyela made his comeback, after a long injury forced absence, over the complete 90 minutes and the German international appeared to be heading in the right direction for a return to the first team.