It was a true football spectacle! On the sixth match day of the season, Werder Bremen notched up a spectacular 5-4 (4-2) win over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. A crowd of 42,100 at the Weser Stadium...
It was a true football spectacle! On the sixth match day of the season, Werder Bremen notched up a spectacular 5-4 (4-2) win over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. A crowd of 42,100 at the Weser Stadium...
It was a true football spectacle! On the sixth match day of the season, Werder Bremen notched up a spectacular 5-4 (4-2) win over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. A crowd of 42,100 at the Weser Stadium saw goals scored for the Green-Whites by Mesut Özil (8’/82’), Claudio Pizarro (16’), Diego (21’) and Aaron Hunt (30’). The goals for the visitors were scored by Demba Ba (15’), Sejad Salihovic (36’), Vedad Ibisevic (62’ pen) and Marvin Compper (71').
Right from the very start, both sides had the fans up and out of their seats with technically impressive, attacking football - which led to six first half goals. In the eighth minute, Mesut Özil opened the floodgates. Having played a wonderful one-two with Aaron Hunt, the young winger drove the ball into the top of the net from inside the box to make it 1-0. Newly promoted Hoffenheim quickly recovered from the set back and were very soon on level terms once again. Vedad Ibisevic picked out Ba with a long ball and the striker equalised for Hoffenheim, but just seconds later, Werder were in front again thanks to a clever flick by Claudio Pizarro (16’).
In the 20th minute, Chinedu Obasi had a good chance to level the scores again with a flying volley but just moments later, Diego increased the Green-Whites lead. An attempted clearance by Hoffenheim fell neatly for the Brazilian who rifled the ball back in low to beat the keeper and make it 3-1 from 14 meters out (21’). When Aaron Hunt (30') made it 4-1 with a stunning drive on the half hour mark, many could have been forgiven for believing that the visitors would now accept their fate – but that wasn’t to be the case. Salihovic directly converted a free-kick in the 36th minute to make the score 4-2 as the sides went into the half-time break.
After the re-start there was much of the same. Two of the Bundesliga’s most potent goal-scoring forces sought their fortunes in attack - and the visitors were rewarded for their brave efforts. After a collision between Diego and Tobias Weis in the box, the referee awarded Hoffenheim a penalty, which Ibisevic coolly converted to reduce the deficit to just one goal - 4-3 (62’).
The tension in the stadium became absolutely palpable just a minute later when Per Mertesacker was red carded for a professional foul. The visitors took quick advantage of their numerical superiority and equalised once again. Weder were unable to significantly clear from a corner and Compper (71') poked the ball over the line to make it 4-4. Mesut Özil was to prove the Green-Whites hero once again though as he broke free and hammered home to make it 5-4 (82’). It was a goal which raised the roof on the Weser Stadium and guaranteed the points from a stunning Bundesliga tie would be staying in Bremen.
The game at a glance:
Werder Bremen: Wiese - Fritz, Mertesacker, Naldo, Boenisch (59‘ Pasanen) - Frings - Hunt (65‘ Vranjes), Özil - Diego - Rosenberg (65‘ Prödl), Pizarro; on the bench: Vander, Niemeyer, Almeida, Sanogo
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim: Özcan - Beck, Nilsson, Compper, Ibertsberger - Luiz Gustavo - Teber (46’ Weis), Salihovic - Ba, Obasi, Ibisevic
Goals: 1-0 Özil (8’), 1-1 Ba (15’), 2-1 Pizarro (16’), 3-1 Diego (21’), 4-1 Hunt (30’), 4-2 Salihovic (36’), 4-3 Ibisevic (62’, pen), 4-4 Compper (71’), 5-4 Özil (82’)
Referee: Perl (Munich)
Attendance: 42,100 (sold-out, Weser-Stadion)
Yellow card: Salihovic
Red card: Mertesacker (62’, professional foul)
