Werder Bremen vs 1. FC Köln Match Preview
Bremen returns to the bread and butter of the Bundesliga in high spirits following one of the greatest nights in their European history in Genoa. Last week, Hoffenheim turned them inside out, beating them 4-1.
A Torsten Frings penalty for Bremen in the third minute seemed to swing the momentum early on in Bremen’s favour. Bremen ended up conceding four in 23 minutes; they never recovered afterwards.
Werder will most probably be without Aaron Hunt who is suffering from a virus as well as central defender Naldo due to a knee injury. Hugo Almeida who was injured against Hoffenheim might not be available either.
Koeln were unlucky last week; they managed to score despite being a man down. The Werder side awaiting them is a tired one; Thomas Schaaf used 14 of the 16 players he took to Genoa for the Champions League qualifier. However, Koeln will definitely feel the affects of playing without a man for almost an entire match. They will also have to make do without the services of their captain Youssef Mohamad.
Bremen is at the bottom of the league table as they suffered the heaviest loss amongst all the losing sides last week. While Werder will perhaps eventually climb to the top ten, Koeln will have to fight for each and every point.
Werder Bremen vs 1. FC Köln Match Report
Werder dominated the match but Koeln had their fair amount of chances. Werder started off the goal fest. The referee awarded Werder a penalty after Marko Marin was fouled in the box by Petit. Torsten Frings blasted it into the back of the net for 1-0.
The second goal was simply a display of Werder’s beautiful football. Tim Borowski sent a ball into the box which Claudio Pizarro headed to new signing Marko Arnautovic. Arnautovic sent the ball into the net for 2-0.
Lukas Podolski got one back shortly afterwards. A ball from Milivoje Novakovic was headed into the box by the German international striker. The scored remained 2-1 at half-time. Claudio Pizarro unfortunately had to go off early in the 40th minute due to an injury and was replaced by Hugo Almeida.
In the 74th minute, cross from Arnautovic fell right in front of Almeida who sent the ball into the back of the net for 3-1. Arnautovic added another one at the end of normal time following a beautiful run by Clemens Fritz into midfield. Koeln got one back at the end of injury time through Kevin McKenna in bizarre circumstances in the Werder box.
The game ended 4-2 to Werder. Coach Thomas Schaaf opted to use Sebastian Boenisch today as his left back. Werder truly looked very good today but the defensive problems are still there. Lukas Podolski narrowly missed twice from distance. Werder need Naldo back quickly before the Champions League starts.
