Bremen Blow Two Goal Lead In Bochum

First Team
Sunday, 12.08.2007 / 11:02

Werder Bremen played out a 2:2 draw in their opening game of the 2007/2008 Bundesliga season at VfL Bochum. Werder took the lead through a Diego penalty...

Werder Bremen played out a 2:2 draw in their opening game of the 2007/2008 Bundesliga season at VfL Bochum. Werder took the lead through a Diego penalty after VfL keeper Jan Lastuvka brought down Boubacar Sanogo in the box (39’). Right on half time Sanogo doubled the Green-Whites lead as he headed home a perfect Diego delivery. Bochum hit back after the break with Stanislav Sestak (47’) and Tommy Bechmann (49’) catching Bremen cold just after the re-start in what was a very evenly matched second 45 minutes.

 

Coach Thomas Schaaf made two changes to the side which beat Eintract Braunschweig in the DFB Cup last Saturday afternoon. Clemens Fritz replaced Peter Niemeyer on the right side of defence and Leon Andreasen took up the midfield spot left free by the injured Brazilian Carlos Alberto (groin strain).

 

Bochum make bright start

 

In front of their home fans the host side made a bold and pacy start, leaving the Werder defence to deal with several impressive attacks early on in the match. VfL appeared more alert and active than their guests and in particular Joel Epalle looked very mobile sitting in behind striker Stanislav Sestak, who was equally agile.

 

The first chance for Bochum came more as a happy accident though as Dennis Grote snatched at a cross field ball from Sestak and saw his looping effort curl ever more threateningly goal ward and bounce away off the top of the crossbar (12’). Werder made no real attacking approaches with the Bochum offensive keeping the Green-Whites pinned back.

 

With a quarter hour played, Schaaf’s eleven managed to battle their way back into the high tempo game and begin to get some kind of handle on proceedings. Diego showed the first signs of danger with a twisting, turning, spinning shot on goal (16’) and the Brazilian had the best chance to give his side the lead in the 21st minute. Markus Rosenberg laid off to the Werder playmaker on the break and Diego struck low and hard but had his effort from 16 meters turned around the post by VfL keeper Lastuvka. Per Mertesacker met the resulting corner with a header but Grote was well placed to clear the effort off the goal line.

 

Despite feeling the pressure, Bochum didn’t let up. Right full-back Matias Concha won the ball in a challenge with Tim Borowski in the midfield and passed to Epalle who hit a shot on the turn and just missed the top right corner of Tim Wiese’s goal (31’).

 

Werder open the scoring from the spot

 

The Green-Whites then popped up with the first goal of their 2007/2008 campaign. Bochum’s Martin Meichelbeck caused his keeper all sorts of problems with a poor back pass and in the sprint to the ball with Sanogo, Lastuvka came second place and collided with the speedy striker – penalty for Werder. Diego stepped up to take on the responsibility and despite the keeper getting a hand to the ball, the pure force of the shot was enough to take it into the net – 0:1.

 

Werder were in front and didn’t take long to increase the deficit. In added time at the end of the first half, Diego swung in a free-kick from the left and the apparently unstoppable Sanogo rose to head the ball home – 0:2. It was the Ivory Coast international’s first Bundesliga goal for his new club and his fifth in five games since moving to the Weser.

 

Bremen blow two goal lead

 

Werder took a comfortable two goal lead into the break against one of their ‘Favourite’ opponents and one could be forgiven for believing the Green-Whites were cruising. Maybe the cruise mode was already on as the sides came out for the second half. Werder looked lethargic and VfL were determined, active and feisty from the re-start. With just two minutes played. Epalle picked out Sestak with a free-kick delivery and the shot from the striker was charged down by Christian Schulz. The Bochum striker reacted quickest and hammered the loose ball past Wiese to put his side back in the tie.

 

Things were to take a further turn for the worse for Werder. Not two minutes after reducing the deficit, ex-Werder man Christoph Dabrowski beat Naldo on the right and crossed into the box where Bechmann met the delivery to equalise despite the efforts of Wiese and Fritz – 2:2.

 

Werder had blown a comfortable two goal lead and the game was thrown wide open. The Green-Whites attempted to force the issue and had the upper hand, if just optically (61% possession). Both sides created further good chances to take all three points during the closing phase.

 

Mertesacker’s last minute chance

 

Tim Wiese had to be alert to stop both Epalle (83’) and Maltritz (87’) whilst Lastuvka was forced into a good save to deny substitute Kevin Schindler (90’). The last chance of the match fell to Per Mertesacker from a Diego corner but the lanky defenders shot was somehow cleared from thegoal line by Lastuvka and Epalle and the points were shared.

 

Johnnie Muldoon

 

VfL Bochum - Werder Bremen 2:2

 

VfL Bochum: Lastuvka – Concha, Maltritz, Yahia, Meichelbeck – Bechmann (68. Mieciel), Zdebel, Dabrowski, Grote (82. Fuchs) – Epalle, Sestak

 

Werder Bremen: Wiese – Fritz, Mertesacker, Naldo, Schulz – Andreasen, Jensen, Borowski, Diego – Rosenberg (62. Schindler), Sanogo; auf der Bank: Vander, Vranjes, Pasanen, Niemeyer, Almeida, Harnik

 

Goals: 0:1 (39., Foulelfmeter) Diego, 0:2 (45.) Sanogo, 1:2 (47.) Sestak, 2:2 (49.) Bechmann

 

Referee: Kircher (Rottenburg)

 

Attendance: rewirpowerSTADION - 29.037

 

Yelow cards: Zdebel – Diego, Borowski

 

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