Frings From The Spot Gets Werder One Point

First Team
Sunday, 05.03.2006 / 11:08

One the 24th match day, Werder Bremen picked up a point in a 1:1 draw with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Torsten Frings put the Green-Whites in front from the penalty spot after Miroslav Klose was brough down by Juan in the third minute.

One the 24th match day, Werder Bremen picked up a point in a 1:1 draw with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Torsten Frings put the Green-Whites in front from the penalty spot after Miroslav Klose was brough down by Juan in the third minute. Dimitar Berbatov put the home side back on level terms in the 41st. Werder were happy to take an important point back to the Weser after a poor second half and could defend their second place in the league table with 50 points ahead of HSV (50 points) who beat Bayern 1:2 in Munich and Schalke who also won 1:2 in Hanover (48 points).

 

Trainer Thomas Schaaf had to make changes to his side due to the injuries to Naldo (adductoral problem) and captain Frank Baumann (ligaments). The Brazilian was replaced at the centre of defence by Petri Pasanen and Jurica Vranjes filled in for Baumann in the midfield. Torsten Frings returned to the fray having sat out his suspension.

 

'Blitz-Start' - Frings from the spot after foul on Klose

 

The game against Leverkusen, who had won three of their last four games, began in exciteing fashion. Tim Borowski picked out Miroslav Klose with a long pass, the German national striker was unfairly seprated from his contact with the ball by Juan. The referee, Herbert Fandel, had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Torsten Frings, who was filling in for Frank Baumann as captain, stepped up to convert the spot kick, if a little luckily. Bayer keeper Jörg Butt got a hand to the ball but not enough to stop the visitors taking a 1:0 lead.

 

Having taken the lead, Werder settled well and controlled proceedings with their usual, classy combination play. The home side had their first real chance of the game in the 11th minute. Berbatov sprung the Werder offside trap after a through ball from Babic but Tim Wiese was quick off his line to shorten the angle and managed to turn the ball, full stretch, around the far post for a corner. Five minutes later, Leverkusen were awarded an indirect free-kick in the Werder box because Wiese had held onto the ball for too long before a kick out. The situation was easily cleared but overly intensive discussions with the referee cost Torsten Frings a yellow card. Later Patrick Owomoyela also picked up his fourth yellow card of the season as the game began to heat up.

 

Werder with many chances - and many fouls

 

Neither side were going to give an inch as could be seen by the statistic of 18:32 fouls. Bayer picked up the pace in the 20th minute and got more into the game but the best chances stayed on the Green-White side. Frank Fahrenhorst had the ball in the Bayer net from a Johan Micoud free kick but the effort was cancelled out for offside (22'). Just after, Miroslav Klose slipped his international colleague Bernd Schneider and future club team mate Clemens Fritz before passing to Torsten Frings whose shot zipped wide of the left upright (25).

 

Werder had further chances through Ivan Klasnic (28') and Jurica Vranjes (30') in the first half but then took their foot off the pedal and concentrated mainly on defending their slender lead. This was to prove a mistake four minutes before the break. A lack of understanding between Micoud and Owomoyela in the middle allowed Barnetta to win the ball and hit it long towards Berbatov who beat Fahrenhorst to the ball and shot low past a helpless Tim Wiese - 1:1.

 

Their were two more points of interest for the supporters in the packed to capacity BayArena before the break. On both occasions it was Werders Tim Borowski and Leverkusen's 'Oldie' Jens Nowotny. Firstly the Leverkusen defender cleared a Borowski shot with his arm in the box but referee Fandel saw no intention and waved play on. Shortly afterwards, Nowotny hacked Borowski down on the half way line and was very lucky only to receive a yellow card. With the first half at an end Babic came close to putting Bayer in front but it was all square at half time.

 

Second half - advantage Leverkusen

 

As interesting as the first half was, the second 45 minutes fell well short of the previous standard. Both teams seemed to lack concentration and simple mistakes and poor passing became the order of the day with little action in front of goal. Thomas Schaaf saw the need for change and brought Daniel Jensen for Vranjes and Nelson Valdez for Klasnic in an attempt to freshen his attack.

 

The substitutions didn't have the desired effect, instead it was Leverkusen who caught a second wind. Paul Freier broke free with a pass from Voronin and powered int the box but his pass to Berbatov was both unneccessary and too far ahead of the striker (64'). A minute later, Christian Schulz had to clear of the line as Berbatov beat Wiese with his effort.

 

Werder felt the Leverkusen pressure at the back while little went their was in the opposite direction. Only at the death as Klose had a shot deflected wide by Juan did Werder rear their heads but to no avail. With both sides visibly tiring the game stumbled to a 1:1 finish.

 

Johnnie Muldoon

 

 

 

Bayer 04 Leverkusen – Werder Bremen 1:1 (1:1)

 

Bayer Leverkusen: Butt - Fritz, Nowotny, Juan - Rolfes - Schneider, Barnetta, Babic - Freier, Berbatov, Voronin (89. Krzynowek)

 

Werder Bremen: Wiese - Owomoyela, Fahrenhorst, Pasanen, Schulz - Frings - Vranjes (60. D. Jensen), Borowski - Micoud - Klose, Klasnic (68. Valdez); auf der Bank: Vander, Andreasen, Lagerblom, van Damme

 

Goals: 0:1 Frings (3., penalty), 1:1 Berbatov (41.)

 

Referee: Fandel (Kyllburg)

 

Attendance: BayArena: 22.500 Zuschauer (ausverkauft)

 

Yellow cards: Nowotny, Voronin - Frings, Owomoyela

 

Shots on goal: 8 : 6

 

Corners: 3 : 4

 

Crosses: 10 : 7

 

Possession: 48% : 52%

 

Tackles won: 53% : 47%

 

Fouls: 18 : 32

 

Offsides: 11 : 2

 

Most shots on goal: Berbatov (3) – Frings (2)

 

Most assists: Babic (3) – Schulz, Klose (2)

 

Most possession: Fritz (66) – Owomoyela, Borowski (70)

 

Strongest tackler: Nowotny (75%) – Vranjes (60%)

 

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