Werder Bremen stay hot on the heels of league leaders FC Schalke 04 after a 2:0 (1:0) win against FSV Mainz 05 on the 26th match day of the season.
Werder Bremen stay hot on the heels of league leaders FC Schalke 04 after a 2:0 (1:0) win against FSV Mainz 05 on the 26th match day of the season.
Werder Bremen stay hot on the heels of league leaders FC Schalke 04 after a 2:0 (1:0) win against FSV Mainz 05 on the 26th match day of the season. Following a much varied, exciting and, despite a number of chances, goalless first half, Jurica Vranjes eventually gave Werder a deserved lead on the hour. It wasn’t until added time that Diego finally put the game beyond Mainz, scoring with the last kick of the match.
’Schulle’ pulls out
The Green-Whites were forced into making two changes to their starting eleven prior to kick-off. Miroslav Klose returned to the team to replace the injured Aaron Hunt whilst re-nominated German international Christian Schulz was forced out after picking up a muscle strain during the pre-match warm up. ‘Schulle’ was replaced by Danish international Daniel Jensen in the midfield.
The game got off to an electric start and the bulk of the 39,450 strong crowd thought they were about to be treated to a goal with just two minutes on the clock. Miroslav Klose laid a pass back to Diego who let a shot fly from the edge of the eighteen yard box but the left post denied the Brazilian his celebration. Werder had their next big opening just three minutes later after a horrendous pass from Mainz defender Nikolce Noveski fell to Miroslav Klose. The striker reacted quickly and passed to Torsten Frings who attempted a lob from the right side of the box but Manuel Friedrich managed to get to the ball ahead of Hugo Almeida and avert the danger.
Action packed first period
With ten minutes gone, Klose was in the thick of things again as Werder made another pacy break. The front man’s attempted cross was cleared away for a corner by Christian Demirtas who beat Daniel Jensen to the ball. The resulting set piece was headed just over the bar by Per Mertesacker. During the following phase, Werder’s attack began to weaken whilst Mainz attempted to force the issue and make an impact on the game. Tim Weise found himself being tested by Mohamed Zidan (12’), Petr Ruman (14’) and Benjamin Weigelt (20’) but the Werder keeper was not to be beaten. Mainz were now closing their hosts down much more effectively than during the opening minutes and narrowing the space in which Werder could play football. The game became somewhat confined to a tightly packed midfield with the rare use of the ball down the wings amounting to nothing.
In the final quarter hour of the first half it was the referee Thorsten Kinhöfer and his assistants that took the central roll. Three times linesman Guido Winkmann incorrectly flagged for offside with Werder on the attack, unleashing a deafening reaction from the frustrated Green-White faithful. The home side did have two further chances to take the lead before the break. Following a mistake from Noveski, keeper Dimo Wache was forced to make a save from Klose (30’). In the final minute of the half, Jurica Vranjes missed out on a cross from Klose by centimeters to leave the two sides locked in stalemate at half time.
Vranjes breaks the deadlock
After the break, Werder had difficulties breaking down a well drilled Mainz defence. Schaaf’s eleven continued to press but never looked as likely to breach the Mainz backline as they had in the first 45 minutes. It took until the hour mark before a classy attack down the right lead to Werder taking the lead. Clemens Fritz burst past two defenders and slipped the ball through to Vranjes on the edge of the box. The Croatian international controlled the ball cooly on his right foot before firing a low shot into the far corner – 1:0.
Werder knew there was only one way to go now in this game and attempted to score a second as quickly as possible. Substitute Markus Rosenberg got on the end of a pass by Diego but the Swedish international could only find the outside netting (63’).
FSV coach Jürgen Klopp introduced the fresh legs of Jovanovic and Niculae to pep-up their attack. The move proved effective with the visitors again looking revitalised and determined to get back into the tie. By the 70th minute Werder made the process somewhat easier for the visitors with their more passive approach, allowing Mainz room to control their play and push forward.
Turbulent added time period with a happy end
Werder’s one goal advantage began to look rather in danger during the closing phase. Klose had two chances to put the match beyond Mainz with efforts in the 82nd and 83rd minutes. The result was a two minute period of added time which saw Werder under extreme pressure. The visitors threw everything into attack, pinning the Green-Whites back in their own penalty area. Ironically it was Mainz midfielder Leon Andreasen, who is currently on loan from Werder, who had the best chance to equalise but the ever alert Wiese was able to turn the ball around the post.
From the corner, Werder cleared their lines as Naldo headed out to Vranjes, who in turn played a long ball to Diego. The Brazilian pushed his way past Azaouagh and rolled the ball from 20 meters out into an empty net as keeper Wache had also pushed forward for the corner. It was to be the final kick of a decidedly interesting Bundesliga tie which the better side won on the night to maintain their title aspirations.
Johnnie Muldoon
