On the 21st match day of the Bundesliga season, Werder Bremen slipped to a 0:1 (0:0) defeat at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt. In front of a 50,000 strong crowd at the Frankfurt Arena, Greek striker Ioannis Amanatidis scored the only goal of the game in the 58th minute. Werder Bremen’s Brazilian playmaker Diego saw red for a shoulder charge in the 40th minute.
After an early period of pressure from the home side, the Green-Whites began to take more and more control of proceedings. The best chance to take the lead came in the 29th minute when Ivan Klasnic struck the angle of crossbar and post. The ball rebounded back into play but caught Boubacar Sanogo by surprise and the Ivory Coast striker was unable to turn the ball in from point blank range.
The key scene in the game took place just before the half time break when Frankfurt’s central defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos openly provoked Diego and the Brazilian playmaker reacted by shoulder charging the Greek international. After a brief word with his assistant, the referee brandished the red card and dismissed Diego for violent conduct. Werder, who were somewhat weakened from their UEFA Cup adventures on Thursday night in Braga, would now have to play the bulk of the match with just ten men.
After the break, Frankfurt’s numerical advantage eventually paid out in the 58th minute when Brazilian Cris cut out an attempted pass from Sebastian Boenisch and set Greek striker Ioannis Amanatidis on his way to chip the ball over the stranded Tim Wiese and make it 1:0 to Eintracht.
Werder shook off the set back and battled hard in search of an equaliser. The best chances fell to Ivan Klasnic (61’ / 64’) and Tim Borowski (73’), who came agonisingly close with a headed effort, but the Green-Whites failed to make use of the openings they created and in the end lost 1:0 to a Frankfurt side who could consider themselves lucky at best.
The game at a glance:
Eintracht Frankfurt: Nikolov - P. Ochs, Kyrgiakos, Galindo, Spycher - Inamoto (46' Caio), M. Fink (71' Russ), Chris, Köhler - Amanatidis (89' Mantzios), Fenin
Werder Bremen: Wiese - Owomoyela (79' Fritz), Mertesacker, Naldo, Boenisch - Baumann, Vranjes (74' Harnik), Borowski, Diego, Sanogo, Klasnic
Goal: 1:0 Amanatidis (58')
Yellow cards: Inamoto, Chris, Fenin, P. Ochs - Wiese, Vranjes
Red card: Diego (40')
Referee: Dr. Helmut Fleischer
Attendance: 50.000