Werder Bremen used a goal in stoppage time to save a 2-2 draw in their home game against Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen on the 23rd game day. Eren Derdiyok and Toni....
Werder Bremen used a goal in stoppage time to save a 2-2 draw in their home game against Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen on the 23rd game day. Eren Derdiyok and Toni....
Werder Bremen used a goal in stoppage time to save a 2-2 draw in their home game against Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen on the 23rd game day. Eren Derdiyok and Toni Kroos scored for Leverkusen while Claudio Pizarro and Per Mertesacker hit home for Werder.
In front of a sold-out crowd of 37,500 spectators at Weser Stadium, both teams played a high level Bundesliga match which was dominated by tactics in the first half. Tim Borowski replaced the injured Aaron Hunt for Bremen. Jupp Heynckes’s team grabbed the lead after 29 minutes with a free kick goal. Derdiyok surprised Bremen keeper Tim Wiese with a fine free kick. But Bremen answered just five minutes later with Claudio Pizarro hitting the equaliser. Leverkusen keeper Rene Adler could not hold Naldo’s free kick blast from 28 yards and Pizarro pounced on the loose ball to make it 1-1, which was also the score at the break.
The guests from Leverkusen jumped ahead in the 57th minute as Wiese had no chance against Toni Kroos’s hammer blast. Werder never game up against the Bundesliga leaders and pushed forward looking for the second equaliser. And they found it, practically in the final second. Two minutes into stoppage time, Mesut Özil sent a ball into the area and Werder defender Per Mertesacker was there to rise above the Leverkusen backline to head home the 2-2 score. Thomas Schaaf’s team were rewarded for their effort and remained in sixth place after 23 game days.
Werder Bremen: Wiese – Fritz (46’ Abdennour), Mertesacker, Naldo, Pasanen – Frings, Niemeyer (66’ Ayik), Borowski (66’ Almeida), Özil – Marin, Pizarro
Bayer Leverkusen: Adler – Schwaab (66’ Sarpei), Friedrich, Reinartz, Castro (66’ Kadlec) – Vidal, Bender, Barnetta (81’ Renato Augusto), Kroos – Kiessling, Derdiyok
Goals: 0-1 Derdiyok (29’), 1-1 Pizarro (34’), 1-2 Kroos (57’), 2-2 Mertesacker (90’ + 2)
Yellow cards: Borowski (53’), Abdennour (68’), Pizarro (71’), Frings (84’) - Reinartz (37’), Schwaab (59’), Derdiyok (82’), Vidal (84’)
Referee: Michael Weiner (Giesen)
Weser Stadium: 37,500 spectators (sold out)
