Werder Bremen struggled but held on for a 1-1 draw at home against Borussia Dortmund to extend their undefeated streak to 19 games and remain in second place. Mesut Özil...
Werder Bremen struggled but held on for a 1-1 draw at home against Borussia Dortmund to extend their undefeated streak to 19 games and remain in second place. Mesut Özil...
Werder Bremen struggled but held on for a 1-1 draw at home against Borussia Dortmund to extend their undefeated streak to 19 games and remain in second place. Mesut Özil (36’) scored Werder’s sole goal while Lucas Barrios hit for Dortmund.
Werder head coach Thomas Schaaf was without top striker Claudio Pizarro and replaced him with Hugo Almeida. The beginning of the game started with neither side creating many chances. But Bremen went ahead after 36 minutes after a fine play by both Aaron Hunt and the goal scoring Mesut Özil, who was the target of Hunt’s cross from the right side before one-timing in for the opening score. Bremen nearly doubled the lead after 43 minutes but Mohamed Zidan cleared Per Mertesacker’s shot at the goal line. And Bremen keeper Tim Wiese kept Dortmund off the scoreboard with a fine save on Nuri Sahin’s free kick in stoppage time as Werder led 1-0 at the break.
Dortmund came out of the locker room the better team and equalised after 54 minutes. Wiese was strong in stopping Nelson Valdez’s shot but could not corral the ball and Lucas Barrios pounced on the loose ball to make it 1-1. Neven Subotic could not hit for Dortmund from six yards after 68 minutes and Wiese again showed his class by overcoming Valdez with nine minutes left. Bremen appeared tired from their numerous mid-week games. And in the end Werder deserved the point in extending their undefeated streak to 19 games domestically and internationally as the team heads into the national team break.
Werder Bremen: Wiese - Fritz, Mertesacker, Naldo, Boenisch - Borowski - Bargfrede, Hunt - Özil - Marin (70’ Rosenberg), Almeida (89’ Husejinovic); Reserves: Mielitz, Pasanen, Prödl, Niemeyer, Jensen
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller - Owomoyela, Subotic, Santana, Dede - Hummels, Sahin - Blaszczykowski (88’ Großkreutz), Zidan, Valdez (88’ Schmelzer) - Barrios
Goals: 1-0 Özil (36’), 1-1 Barrios (54’)
Referee: Gräfe (Berlin)
Weser Stadium: 34,000 spectators
Yellow cards: Bargfrede – Valdez, Barrios
