Into quarter-finals! 2-2 in France

Corner - header - goal - tongue out. Sebastian Prödl puts Werder ahead with header.
First Team
Wednesday, 18.03.2009 / 22:59

Werder Bremen reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup with a 2-2 draw at AS Saint-Etienne. In front of 28,000 spectators in St.-Etienne, Sebastian Prödl (6') and Claudio Pizarro (28') gave Bremen a 2-0 lead...

Werder Bremen reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup with a 2-2 draw at AS Saint-Etienne. In front of 28,000 spectators in St. Etienne, Sebastian Prödl (6') and Claudio Pizarro (28') gave Bremen a 2-0 lead before Yohan Benalouane (64') and Sebastien Grax (90') hit for the hosts.

 

After the 1-0 first leg, the tie was decided pretty quickly. In the sixth minute, German international Torsten Frings curled a corner kick from right side into the area where Sebastian Prödl headed into the left corner. And Werder fans were given reason to celebrate again before the break. Mesut Özil sent a perfect cross from the left side in the 28th minute and Pizarro showed his class, striking a diving header low into the right corner. And the lead was 2-0 at the break.

 

After the re-start, the French tried to cut into the massive deficit and at least offer their fans a good game. But the Werder defence around Per Mertesacker and Naldo stood solid. St. Etienne needed until the 64th minute to finally pull a goal back as Benalouane headed in Cedric Varrault's cross to trim the margin to 2-1.

 

The game opened up further after the goal. But Diego's shot from 15 yards after a fine solo was blocked by a defender in the 71st minute. And Bafetimbi Gomis saw his blast from 20 yards go just inches left of goal with 15 minutes to play. Grax equalised the game a minute into injury time but the French would have needed a 4-2 result to advance, allowing Werder Bremen to reach the UEFA Cup quarter-finals.

 

 

The game at a glance:

 

AS St. Etienne: Janot – Varrault, Benalouane, Tavlaridis, Sauget – Varrault, Matsui (80' Payet), Bayal, Hautecoeur (72' Monsoreau), Dernis - Mirallas (63' Grax) – Gomis

 

Werder Bremen: Wiese – Prödl, Naldo, Mertesacker, Boenisch – Frings, Niemeyer (72' Tziolis), Özil, Diego (76' Hunt) – Rosenberg, Pizarro (86' Almeida)

 

Goals: 0-1 Prödl (6'), 0-2 Pizarro (28'), 1-2 Benalouane (64'), 2-2 Grax (90')

 

Attendance: 28,000 (Stade Geoffroy Guichard)

 

Referee: Alexandru Tudor (Bucharest, Romania)

 

Yellow Cards: Boenisch, Mertesacker, Pizarro

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