Scintillating Werder Thrash Bayern

Claud · Sep 20, 2008

Bayern Munich 2-5 Weder Bremen

Werder Bremen earned them an impressive 5-2 victory away to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. Following a frustrating Champions League opener in midweek, the visitors took the game to Bayern and used a combination of tenacious defence and deadly finishing to go ahead 5-0 by the 67th minute.

It was clear sailing after that, although the home side were able to pull two back with a brace from Tim Borowski.

FIRST HALF
The first half was everything a Bundesliga fan would expect from the two offensive-minded teams; the flow of play was continuous and played at a breakneck rate.

Early on, the visitors stuck to their strong points, taking the game to Bayern with sustained attacking.

Bremen's efforts nearly paid off as early as the third minute, when a Diego free kick sailed towards Per Mertesacker. Bayern keeper Michael Rensing came off his line, but the ball missed both he and Mertesacker, and almost fell at the feet of an onrushing Marcus Rosenberg.

Amidst a great amount of pressure from Bremen, the home side nearly pulled ahead in the 6th minute. A long-range effort from Bastian Schweinsteiger was partially blocked by Mertesacker, leaving the ball to fall at Luca Toni's feet. Toni's first-touch effort was disappointing, however, the shot swerving well wide.

Toni had a chance to redeem himself 7 minutes later, as Lahm's cross landed straight to the Italian's forehead. Once again, Toni's attempt was not enough, his header falling rather benignly to Tim Wiese's hands.

In an almost ominous manner, the visitors came an inch from taking the lead on 18 minutes. A long, high chip from Diego landed at Claudio Pizarro's feet. The Peruvian striker accelerated past Demichelis and chipped over Rensing, but the ball glanced off the near post.

The visitors finally took the lead on 30 minutes, as Mesut Özil played a perfectly weighted through ball to Rosenberg. The ball forced Martin Demichelis to turn, sacrificing just enough space for Rosenberg to slip through and strike low and past Rensing.

The home side almost immediately created two opportunities to equalized, but failed on both attempts. In the 32’, Luca Toni was played through, but he waited too long to shoot and Naldo saved his side the equalizer with a hard tackle. A minute later, Lucio was found open in the box. His pass found Podolski, whose first touch shot went high and over the bar.

In the 38th minute, Mark van Bommel sent a high ball over the Bremen defense and to a wide open Toni, but the Italian striker’s header was weak and straight to Wiese.

All of Bayern’s missed opportunities would prove costly before the break. On 45 minutes, Özil sent a free kick into the penalty area that whizzed by Sebastian Proedl’s head. Perhaps expecting a deflection from Proedl, Rensing was late to react and dived to his right to save, but he spilled the ball straight to Naldo’s feet. Naldo coolly converted, leaving the score 2-0 to the visitors at the half.

SECOND HALF

With a mountain to climb, Bayern coach Jürgen Klinsmann opted to field an even more offensive lineup, replacing centre back Daniel van Buyten with central midfielder Tim Borowski.

Following nearly ten minutes of sustained pressure from Bayern, Bremen's counterattack produced a fantastic goal, this time from the dazzling Özil. The ex-Schalke left winger found the ball in the penalty area. Newly substituted Massimo Oddo dropped back, giving Özil just enough room to blast a tremendous shot past Rensing and into the top left corner of the net.

With the deficit now four goals, Bayern appeared mentally defeated. With every opportunity, they simply lacked the sharpness required to pull a goal back. For example, on 57 minutes, an Oddo cross found a wide open Podolski in the penalty area. The German international striker, who converted on two similar volleys during the Euro 2008 tournament, missed horribly wide on this occasion.

On the other end, the visitors made the score 4-0 as Pizarro scored a deserved goal. Rosenberg raced into the penalty area and passed back for Pizarro, who tapped the ball low as Rensing came off his line. The ball went just under Rensing and into the net.

It took just 8 more minutes for Bremen to score their final goal, resulting from a real howler by Rensing. A Diego free kick sailed into the penalty area and towards Mertesacker. Rensing was late to come off his line, but was in position in time to make a play on the ball. He and Mertesacker missed, and this time the ball fell to Rosenberg, who tapped the ball into an open net.

If there was one bright thing to come for the home side, it was the revelation of Tim Borowski as a great offensive player behind the strikers. The German international scored a late brace to make the scoreline a little less distressing for the home side. In the 71st minute, a cross found Oddo wide open on the right side. Oddo played the ball low and straight to a wide open Borowski, whose first touch sent the ball low and into the net as the home side pulled one back.

In the 85th minute, a cross found Luca Toni with his back to the goal. Toni chested the ball to Borowski, who volleyed from the top of the box, sending the ball low and into the left corner of the net.

In the end, it was Bremen’s desire and aggression that defeated a timid and clumsy Bayern side today. The first half saw plenty of opportunities for both sides, but it was Bremen who pressured the home side on both ends of the pitch and left the pitch with a 2-0 halftime lead. After the break, Bayern showed signs of life early, but a lackluster defensive performance and a fantastic goal from Özil effectively ended the competition less than ten minutes after halftime.

Goals:

0-1 Rosenberg (30)

0-2 Naldo (45)

0-3 Özil (54)

0-4 Pizarro (59)

0-5 Rosenberg (67)

1-5 Borowski (71)

2-5 Borowski (85)

Yellow Cards: Demichelis (29)/ Baumann (16), Vranjes (82)

Line-ups
Bayern Munich: Rensing - van Buyten (Borowski, 45), Demichelis, Lucio - Lahm, Zé Roberto (Sosa, 67), van Bommel, Schweinsteiger, Lell (Oddo, 45) - Podolski, Toni

Werder Bremen: Wiese - Pored, Mertesacker, Naldo, Bonefish - Özil (Niemeyer, 77), Diego, Baumann (Hunt, 46), Vranjes - Rosenberg (Sanogo, 71), Pizarro
Click to expand...

Ouch, 5-0 By the 67th minute?! Horrible game by Bayern to say the least.

CelticKing · Sep 23, 2008

Yeah, I'm glad I missed the game. Not sure what happened really, but that will be the worst loss of the season in my opinion.

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Scintillating Werder Thrash Bayern

Claud Legendary

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