Werder Bremen deservedly beat Energie Cottbus 2:0 on the 31st match day of the season to claim the advantage in the race to second place, and the direct qualification for the UEFA Champions League that accompanies the runner-up spot in the Bundesliga. The Green-Whites goals were scored by second half substitute strikers Markus Rosenberg (67’) and Hugo Almeida (79’).
Without the services of the injured Diego, but with German international Torsten Frings back in the starting eleven, Thomas Schaaf’s men launched their onslaught on the Cottbus goal straight from the kick-off. The visitors were given no room to settle and in the first twenty minutes could have easily found themselves behind with efforts from Mesut Özil, Naldo and Daniel Jensen being expertly dealt with by Cottbus goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel. The home side took their foot off the pedal midway through the first period, but on the half hour mark, once again Tremmel was called into action to make a stunning save, this time from Boubacar Sanogo, to rescue his side from going into the break a goal down.
Just after the re-start, Werder keeper Tim Wiese was forced to show just what he is capable of, for the first time in the match, as Stanislav Rangelov broke free and the keeper stood strong to deny the visitors the lead. Soon after, the Green-Whites were back in control yet again and eventually, in the 67th minute, the Werder fans got their chance to celebrate. Petri Pasanen put a fine pass through to Frings in the box and the German internationals deliver found substitute Markus Rosenberg, who was perfectly placed to put the ball in the back of the net.
Werder kept the up pressure and in the 79th minute, Hugo Almeida was on hand to slot home from point-blank range and make it 2:0 for the hosts, after some excellent work by Tim Borowski. With Schalke 04 only managing a 1:1 home draw with Hannover 96, the Green-Whites moved two points clear of their closest rivals, in second place.
Werder Bremen – FC Energie Cottbus 2:0 (0:0)
Werder Bremen: Wiese - Fritz (78‘ Owomoyela), Naldo, Mertesacker, Pasanen - Frings, Jensen, Borowski - Özil - Klasnic (56‘ Rosenberg), Sanogo (56‘ Almeida); on the bench: Vander, Baumann, Vranjes, Hunt
FC Energie Cottbus: Tremmel - da Silva, Radeljic, Cvitanovic, Ziebig - Rost, Angelov - Rivic (68’ Rangelov), Skela (87’ Papadopulos), Sörensen - Jelic (34’ Vasiljevic)
Goals: 1:0 (67’) Rosenberg, 2:0 (79‘) Almeida
Referee: Dr. Fleischer (Sigmertshausen)
Attendance: Weser-Stadion: 39.688
Yellow cards: Frings – Ziebig, Angelov, da Silva