Werder Bremen finished the first half of the 2008/2009 season with a 2-1 (1-1) win over VfL Wolfsburg. A crowd of 38,000 at the Weser Stadium saw Christian Gentner put the ‘Wolves’ in front (3’) but...
Werder Bremen finished the first half of the 2008/2009 season with a 2-1 (1-1) win over VfL Wolfsburg. A crowd of 38,000 at the Weser Stadium saw Christian Gentner put the ‘Wolves’ in front (3’) but...
Werder Bremen finished the first half of the 2008/2009 season with a 2-1 (1-1) win over VfL Wolfsburg. A crowd of 38,000 at the Weser Stadium saw Christian Gentner put the ‘Wolves’ in front (3’) but thanks to a header from Per Mertesacker (27’) and a Josué own goal (63’), Werder turned the tie back in their favour.
Confident on the back of the mid-week 2-1 win over Inter Milan, Werder were determined to notch up a win in the Bundesliga as they head into the winter break – but things could have hardly gotten off to a worse start. With just three minutes gone, Tim Wiese was left fishing the ball out of the back of his net. Per Mertesacker failed to reach a corner delivered by VfL playmaker Zvjezdan Misimovic and the ball fell perfectly for the unmarked Gentner, who hammered home from the edge of the six yard box to make it 1-0 for Wolfsburg (3’).
Werder appeared unperturbed by the set back and went immediately in search of an equaliser. After having created a number of previous chances, Per Mertesacker eventually gave the Werder fateful something to cheer about in the 27th minute. Mesut Özil swung in a free-kick from the right and the German international rose to flick the ball past the keeper and level the scores – And the score-line was to stay at 1-1 going into the break.
Werder then also had the first chance after the re-start. Markus Rosenberg split the VfL defence with a pass through to Aaron Hunt, who broke away from his marker and got a shot in, but Wolfsburg keeper Diego Benaglio was well placed to deny the effort. In the 63rd minute the Weser Stadium was rocking again. Özil burst down the left and crossed powerfully into the centre where Wolfsburg captain Josué stuck out a leg and turned the ball into his own net.
As the game entered the closing phases, the visitors began to gain more possession but Werder remained in control. With Werder substitute Daniel Jensen (72’) and VfL sub Alexander Madlung (73’) both missing the last real openings of the game, Werder hung on to take all three points in a narrowly, but deservedly won home tie.
The game at a glance:
Werder Bremen: Wiese - Fritz, Mertesacker, Prödl (81‘ Naldo), Boenisch - Frings - Hunt, Vranjes (64‘ Jensen) - Özil - Rosenberg, Husejinovic (76‘ Niemeyer); on the bench: Vander, Tosic, Baumann
VfL Wolfsburg: Benaglio – Hasebe (46’ Riether), Costa, Barzagli, Schäfer – Zaccardo (60’ Madlung), Josue – Dejagah, Misimovic – Gentner (79’ Saglik), Dzeko
Goals: 0-1 Gentner (3’), 1-1 Mertesacker (27’), 2-1 Josue (63’/og)
Referee: Sippel (Munich)
Attendance: Weser-Stadium: 38,000
Yellow cards: Boenisch – Dejagah
