Bremen on Schalke's Heels
March 19, 2007
Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf was a relieved man after his title-chasing side's 2-0 win over Mainz 05 on Sunday kept the pressure on Bundesliga leaders Schalke 04.
Goals by midfielders Jurica Vranjes and Diego helped second-placed Bremen peg the leaders back to a three-point advantage as Schalke had briefly opened a six-point lead after Saturday's win over third-placed Stuttgart.
Centre half Vranjes gave Bremen the lead on the hour mark when he took a slick pass on the edge of the area and smashed his shot past Mainz's diving goalkeeper Dimo Wache.
And Bremen made sure of the points in injury time when Brazilian Diego broke clear of the defense after a quick counter-attack and chipped into an empty net as Mainz's defense was exposed for chasing an equalizing goal.
"This was a key win for us," said Bremen coach Schaaf. "If we had lost, Schalke would have enjoyed a big lead and it was important that we didn't let them get away. We had plenty of chances, the goals didn't come in the first-half, but our patience paid off and the victory keeps us in touch."
Leverkusen up to fifth after beating Gladbach
In the day's other game, bottom-side Borussia Mönchengladbach traveled to Bayer Leverkusen's BayArena and looked to have picked up a valuable point until dealt a cruel blow in injury time.
With the match cruising towards a 0-0 draw, Bayer's Ukrainian striker Andrey Voronin saw his powerful shot deflected off a defender and past 'Gladbach's keeper Kasey Keller to seal the 1-0 win which lifts his side to fifth.
"We wanted the fifth place in the league and only a victory would have given us that, so we are delighted the hard work paid off," said Leverkusen striker Stefan Kiessling.
On Saturday, Schalke bagged their first win in five games with a 1-0 victory at home to Stuttgart after Mladen Krstajic stabbed the ball home from a goal-mouth scramble to give his side a valuable victory.
Frankfurt disrupt Munich's momentum
And relegation-threatened Eintracht Frankfurt did themselves a huge favor by scrambling a 1-0 win at home to Bayern Munich, which dented the Bavarians' title aspirations and leaves them nine points behind Schalke.
Having gone into the match with his side in the relegation zone, Frankfurt's midfielder Christoph Preuss bagged a spectacular 78th-minute goal with a bicycle kick which lifted them four places to 12th in the table.
And in his first game in charge, new Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Doll saw his side pick up a valuable point in their 0-0 draw with fifth-placed Nuremburg, but they still fell two places to fifteenth, one above the drop zone.
Mixed bag for mid-table teams
Hanover drew 0-0 with Hamburg, while VfL Wolfsburg enjoyed a 3-1 win over second-from-bottom Bochum after taking a 2-0 half-time lead at home.
Bochum got themselves back in the match thanks to their Greek striker Theofanis Gekas, who gave his side a 66th minute life-line to become the league's joint top-scorer, alongside injured Stuttgart striker Mario Gomez, with 13 goals.
But Brazilian midfielder Marcelo Marcelinho made the win safe with a goal in the 83rd minute as Bochum slipped into the bottom three.
On Friday, newly-promoted Energie Cottbus enjoyed a 1-0 win at Hertha Berlin thanks to a goal by their Romanian striker Sergiu Radu just after the half-time break.