Werder Bremen lost the UEFA Cup final against a strong FC Shakhtar Donetsk as Thomas Schaaf’s team lost 2-1 in extra time. Luiz Adriano gave Donetsk the lead in the 25th minute...
Werder Bremen lost the UEFA Cup final against a strong FC Shakhtar Donetsk as Thomas Schaaf’s team lost 2-1 in extra time. Luiz Adriano gave Donetsk the lead in the 25th minute...
Werder Bremen lost the UEFA Cup final against a strong FC Shakhtar Donetsk as Thomas Schaaf’s team lost 2-1 in extra time. Luiz Adriano gave Donetsk the lead in the 25th minute. Naldo equalised in the 35th minute but Jadson scored the winning goal in extra time for the Ukrainians.
The 38,000 spectators at Istanbul’s sold-out Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium saw an interesting and exciting match from the start. Werder struggled right away with the technically and tactically very strong FC Shakhtar Donetsk, especially with the quick pushes forward by the Ukrainians.
And Donetsk jumped ahead on a counter attack in the 25th minute. A long ball by Răzvan Raţ went through the entire Bremen backline and into the path of the dangerous Luiz Adriano, who was quicker to the ball and looped it over the charging Werder keeper Tim Wiese. But Thomas Schaaf’s team showed their determination and fought their way back into the game, equalising 10 minutes after falling behind. Donetsk keeper Andriy Pyatov batted away Naldo’s free kick blast from 30 yards but the ball deflected into the Ukrainians’ goal. Five minutes before the break, Wiese showed his class by stopping a fine attempt by Mariusz Lewandowski to his lower right corner. And the game was knotted 1-1 at intermission.
Wiese was in the middle of the action again shortly after the break. Bremen’s keeper fended to corner an excellent free kick from Jadson from 18 yards out. At the other end, Mesut Özil pushed forward on the right side and passed into the middle but Markus Rosenberg’s shot was blocked. The game remained even though Claudio Pizarro’s strong header was held by Pyatov with 12 minutes to play. And the game went into extra time at 1-1.
In the 97th minute, the Ukrainians took advantage of a Werder mistake on defence for the decisive goal for 2-1. After an attack down the right side, Jadson had too much space and struck home from 12 yards out. Wiese was able to get his hand on the ball but the Shakhtar Donetsk winner crossed the goalline. Werder pushed forward until the end looking to equalise again. But Alexandros Tziolis’s shot in the 111th minute went just wide right and the Ukrainians were the final UEFA Cup champions.
