Schaaf hopeful about duo

Werder Bremen midfielder Diego missed team training on Wednesday, taking part in a light workout with Sebastian Boenisch instead.

The side’s Brazilian playmaker had to break off training on Tuesday after feeling a twinge in his left thigh.

Head coach Thomas Schaaf said the injury was “nothing serious…but he’ll be completing a rehabilitative programme today and tomorrow.”

Baumann: “I might make it”

Schaaf is hopeful that Diego will be able to return to full training for the final session on Friday. Meanwhile another player eyeing up his comeback is Frank Baumann.

After more than two weeks out with a right ankle ligament injury, the club captain is set to take part in squad training on Thursday. His prospects of rejoining the squad for the game against Cottbus remain up in the air, but, says Baumann, “I might make it”.

source: bundesliga.de

Sweeping to success

Torsten Frings is the very personification of the “pack leader” at Werder Bremen. So far, however, this has been a season to forget for the injury-plagued defensive midfielder.

The latest problem – an injury to the right ankle capsule – meant Frings had to sit out last Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Karlsruher SC. That notwithstanding, the 31-year-old is determined to help Bremen to second place in the league, and a place in the Champions League once again.

“No walk in the park”

“No-one here thinks that qualifying for the Champions League will be a walk in the park”, Frings told bundesliga.de.

“It was a tall order each of the last four seasons, but we got there each time. That experience has made us stronger as a team. We have no intention of letting go of second place, and that’s something we can underscore in the upcoming games against our direct rivals.”

Databank analysis

A look into the bundesliga.de databank meanwhile underscores how important Frings’ contribution could be to retaining that second place:

* Bremen lost just one of the eight games (12.5 percent) Frings has played in so far this season. In his absence, the loss percentage climbs to 31.8.

* The points average was also worse without him (1.68 per game) than with him (2.13).

* Bremen did not concede more than two goals in any game he played in – as they did on five occasions without him.

* In 677 minute of on-field action this season, Frings has had 14 shots on goal – one every 48 minutes on average.

* He also set up 14 shots, meaning he was directly involved in an attempt on goal for the Hanseatics every 24 minutes on average.

* He has found the net once this season – a long-range effort at Rostock on 15 April. Ten days earlier, a long-ball from Frings put Tim Browski in for the decider in a 2-1 win at Hertha Berlin.

source: bundesliga.de

Click here to view Torsten Frings’s profile with pictures and videos

Frings back, Diego breaks off

Torsten Frings returned to training with the first squad at Werder Bremen on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old midfielder has recovered from the injury to his right ankle that kept him sidelined for last weekend’s game at Karslruher SC, and was able to complete a full session.

Diego has to break off

That was more than could be said of Diego. The playmaker had to end training early because of a twinge in his left thigh. “He has a slight muscular problem, but I’m working on the assumption he’ll be fit for Saturday”, head coach Thomas Schaaf said, in reference to the upcoming encounter with Energie Cottbus.

Club captain Frank Baumann has been in solo training since the start of the week. Baumann has been out since incurring ligament damage to his right ankle following a tackle by Hansa Rostock’s Tim Sebastian two weeks ago.

Boesnisch progressing

Sebastian Boesnisch, who is still recuperating from a muscle tear, is also making progress. “It’s going well, but I’m not quite there yet”, said the 21-year-old defender, who hopes to be back training with the full squad soon.

Click here to view Torsten Frings’s profile with pictures and videos
Click here to view Sebastian Boenisch’s profile with pictures

Werder and Ivan Klasnic to continue co-operation

On Tuesday morning at 9am, Werder striker Ivan Klasnic arrived at the clubs administration centre along with his lawyers, Matthias Teichner and Dr. Klaus Horndasch, in order to hold a meeting with both Werder Bremen managers, Manfred Müller and Klaus Allofs, as well as team coach Thomas Schaaf to clear up the differences which have developed between the opposing parties in recent months and over the past few days.

The focus of the meeting was particularly set on comments made by both Ivan and Patricia Klasnic concerning the history of the players illness and the relevant attitude and behaviour of Werder Bremen on the matter. Following the air-clearing discussions, there are no longer any issues in the way of a continued co-operation between Werder Bremen and Ivan Klasnic.

Werder Bremen and Ivan Klasnic released the following press statement:

Press release from Werder Bremen

The comments and media reports released over the last few days led us to seek a clarifying discussion with Ivan Klasnic and his representatives. This took place in detailed and subjective fashion today. We have drawn the following conclusions:

Ivan and his family are of the opinion that Werder Bremen did not pay a sufficient amount of interest in the player over the duration of his illness. We deeply regret this and acknowledge that we should have reacted better in some situations.

We would like to take this opportunity to point out that we did all in our power to aide a complete clarification of his illness.

With today’s discussions, we were able to rectify any irritation between Ivan Klasnic and Werder Bremen. We will meet with Ivan Klasnic again to continue negotiations on his contract.

Bremen, 29th April 2008

On behalf of the management,

Klaus Allofs

Press release from Ivan Klasnic

(represented by barristers Dr. Horndasch and Teichner)

There have been grievances over comments made recently by my wife and I concerning Dr. Dimanski and Dr. Guha, which were taken publically to be heftily critical of the club Werder Bremen, as they indeed had to be. We would like to make absolutely clear that these statements were exclusively in relation to the relative doctors in this case and not against the club itself or its responsible figures.

My wife Patricia has also explained that she had simply been wrongly quoted, so far as the regrettable impressions that were left, which led to belief that the comments made were not related to the doctors involved but rather to the club and its responsible figures.

If comments which were made appear in any way to imply that the club had a negative influence on my treatment – then the impressions left by those statements are false.

Werder Bremen clearly explained that they would support my family and I, to find the origin of, and who is responsible for clarifying, my serious illness.

I, Ivan Klasnic, will do all in my power to help the club to achieve the very best possible result in this season. Naturally I will, as I am contractually committed as a Bundesliga player, lay claim to the services of Dr. Dimanski.

I expressly wish for the retention and intensification of our co-operation in order to avoid misunderstandings and misinterpretations in the future.

Bremen, 29th April 2008.

source: werder.de

Vote now to make Tim Borowski ‘Player of the Month’

Werder Bremen’s Tim Borowski has been nominated by the Bundesliga team captains to join the short-list for April’s ‘Player of the Month’ award. The voting will continue until midday on Wednesday, 30.04.2008. All fans of the German international can do their part to push the Werder midfielder into pole position in the rankings by registering their vote under the telephone number: 01379 – 98921 – 11 or by sending a text message with the title ‘Spieler 1’ to the number 82 82 2. Online voting is also possible by clicking on www.fussballer-des-monats.de.

The voting is organised by ‘Kicker’ sport magazine, German sport broadcaster DSF and the German Football League (DFL). The 18 Bundesliga captains nominate one player each, with the three most often named players making the short-list for selection.

source: werder.de

Bundesliga Team Of The Week: Round 30

Goalkeeper:

1)  René Renno (Bochum)

The Bochum keeper was helpless to stop Niculescu’s free kick in the first half, but he then went on to produce a number of top saves to keep his side in the game before they grabbed a late equaliser through Sestak.  A second half save from Niculescu particularly stood out.

Defenders:

2)  Markus Bollmann (Arminia Bielefeld)

Bollmann has been impressive over the past few weeks for the Arminen and stood out again on Saturday against Nürnberg.  Although only on as an early second half substitute the defender made an instant impact heading in a Marx free kick just five minutes after coming on, to help rescue a vital point for Bielefeld in their fight for survival against a direct rival.

3)  Marcelo Bordon (Schalke)

Schalke captain Marcelo José Bordon seemed to drive Schalke forward from the back on Saturday with a supreme will to win showing why he is the team captain and the major influence on the team.  He was totally cool and composed at the back to snuff out the Hamburg attack once again and help secure a potentially vital in for the Königsblauen.

4)  Christian Wörns (Borussia Dortmund)

The 36 year old Dortmund defender rolled back the years to give a supreme display of defending against Frankfurt.  Wörns may have lost a bit of the old pace, but he certainly made up for it on Friday against Frankfurt through his positioning and reading of the play.  More often than not he came out on top against the younger and pacier Martin Fenin.

Midfielders:

5)  Mark van Bommel (Bayern Munich)

Despite playing with a broken nose, the Dutch midfielder was key for Bayern on Sunday as they beat Stuttgart to take a huge step towards clinching the Bundesliga title.  Van Bommel was unlucky to get his head to Antonio da Silva’s free kick, which led to the equaliser, but then his blasted free kick early in the second half restored Bayern’s lead.  His tackling was tough as usual but highly effective.

6)  Sebastian Freis (Karlsruhe)

The KSC midfielder took his season’s goal tally to eight with a double strike against Werder on Saturday.  The Green and Whites were the better side, but Karlsruhe took their few chances clinically and none more so than Freis.  Took a Hajnal pass well on 15 minutes for his first, before setting off on a fine solo run in the second half before firing in his second.

7)  Arnold Bruggink (Hannover)

Dutchman Bruggink was behind both of Hannover’s goals against Hertha and was also full of ideas going forward for Dieter Hecking’s side.  He was the creative hub for all their good work in the first half, its just a shame he like the rest of the Hannover side wilted a little in the second half.

8)  Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich)

Introduced as a second half substitute, Ribéry had a massive impact on the game.  With the score fine poised at 2-1, his appearance brought an instant injection of pace to the Bayern attack and he put the game beyond Stuttgart with a double strike.  The first was a majestic shot from xx and the second saw him turn two defenders inside out, before slotting clinically past Schäfer.  Simply fantastic.

Forwards:

9) Dimitar Rangelov (Energie Cottbus)

Dimitar Rangelov may only have been on the pitch for 21 minutes but the goal he scored for Energie in the 91st minute cannot be underestimated.  The relegation six-pointer against fellow Easterners Rostock was decided in injury time when the Bulgarian beat Orestes in the air to head in.

10) Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke)

Having scored four in his previous outing for Schalke under caretaker bosses Mike Büskens and Youri Mulder, Kuranyi carried on the scoring against Hamburg with what turned out to be the winning goal.  It came as  early as the second minute, but Kuranyi proved a handful all afternoon for the HSV defenders.  If the goal seals Schalke’s Champions League place next season, it could be worth €20 million at least.

11) Grafite (Wolfsburg)

The powerful striker didn’t get on the score sheet, but he did provide the assists for both Wolfsburg goals against Bayer Leverkusen.  His movement during the game was superb, he was quick and showed great technical ability against some accomplished Leverkusen defenders.  He made German international Friedrich look pedestrian on more than one occasion.

Honourable mentions:

As always there are only eleven slots in the team of the week, so some players who played well for their club haven’t made it.  They do however get an honourable mention.

Markus Pröll and Patrick Ochs both did well for Eintracht Frankfurt against Dortmund, while BVB keeper Marc Ziegler also did well in the same game.

Fabian Ernst (Schalke), Mesut Özil and Diego (Werder Bremen) all had fine games in midfield for their respective teams.

Marcell Jansen and Luca Toni both deserve mentions for their performances against Stuttgart, while Rene Adler (Leverkusen), Jan Simunek (Wolfsburg) and Timo Rost (Energie Cottbus) all deserve praise.

source: goal.com

Borowski’s trip down ‘Memory Lane’

It’s almost as if he’d never really been away. As he strolled through the ‘Wilhelm Scharnow Boarding School’ above the East-Stand of the Weser Stadium with WERDER.TV, Tim Borowski’s mind was quickly cast back to his time as a youth player with Werder Bremen. Here his old room, there the billiard table, the schedule posted on the wall…today the 27 year old has a tale to tell about all of those things.

At a window in the hallway he stopped for a brief moment: “I can remember exactly how I stood here back then excitedly watching the game against Schalke when Dabrowski scored that unbelievably important goal to save the club from relegation.”

Back then, in 1999, Tim Borowski was heading towards a German youth league title win with the Green-Whites. Five years later, the lad from Mecklenburg was on the pitch with the Werder team himself, celebrating winning the German championship. How time just seems to fly….

source: werder.de

Bundesliga – Klasnic to sue Bremen

Ivan Klasnic is planning legal action against Werden Bremen’s medical staff, claiming they could have prevented his kidney transplant operation.

The Croatia striker underwent surgery in May 2007, but is adamant his condition should have been diagnosed earlier by club doctor Gotz Dimanski and cardiologist Manju Guha.

“If the doctors had treated me correctly then things would have gone differently,” he said.

“The people who have created this mess will have to pay. Enough is enough now, the truth must come out.”

Newspaper reports in Germany suggest Klasnic is claiming 1.4 million euros in damages, following advice from medical professionals.

“I will never allow Dr Dimanski to treat me ever again,” he said.

Klasnic recovered from the kidney operation and was cleared to play again in September 2007. He made his return on Novemeber 27 against Energie Cottbuss in the Bundesliga.

He has scored six goals in 12 appearances, and fought his way back into contention for a place in Slaven Bilic’s Croatia squad for this summer’s Euro 2008 tournament.

source: eurosport.com

Wasted chances cost Werder the greater prize

Werder did just what they had set out to do. The players had planned to use the extra time on their hands and the concentrated efforts of the last few days to up the tempo and go the extra mile in comparison to recent performances. The effort was there but, in the end, the Green-Whites didn’t put in the promised performance.

The first half of football at the ‘Wildparkstadion’ was not exactly contrary to what had been planned. KSC coach Edmund Becker gushed: “Werder played from the top drawer for a good hour. Bremen were the best team that have played at the ‘Wildparkstadion’ this whole season and they really taught us a lesson in attacking football. It was clear to us all at half time that we would have to stop their offensive machine.”

The fact that KSC saw any chance of getting back into the game was down to the wastefulness of Werder with their chances. Werder midfielder Daniel Jensen commented on just how careless his side were: “We should have scored three or four goals before the break. The chances were certainly there.”

Head coach Thomas Schaaf could only agree with the Danish international: “We should have steamrolled out opponents and spurned any chance of them getting back into the game.” Centre half Per Mertesacker could only agree with his trainer: “We need to improve in front of goal,” remarked the German international. And the Werder fans certainly wouldn’t contradict him.

source: werder.de

Watch the game highlights here

More stability needed in the battle for second place

Not even the normally well balanced Werder general manager could sit still on the bench. Klaus Allofs sprang from his seat again and again in despair as his side wasted their chances: “You just get the feeling that this sort of thing can carry consequences – and that’s exactly what happened.”

Unfortunately the former striker was proven to be right on Saturday. KSC took their chances with a stunning level of effectiveness with the result of coming very close to beating Werder in the end: “We were the dominant side for 60 minutes and then suddenly you find yourself behind, then you ask just what has happened,” explained trainer Thomas Schaaf, who was not satisfied with his side’s defensive performance.

“We were not good today in our attempts to avoid conceding goals. Sure KSC had a few chances but we made it easy for them. We knew that KSC were good on the break and we dealt with that badly. We only have ourselves to blame for what happened today”, concluded the trainer.

source: werder.de

Watch the game highlights here

Ribéry rampant as Bayern stand on verge

FC Bayern München need just a single point to seal their 21st Bundesliga crown after putting together a convincing 4-1 win at home against VfB Stuttgart on Sunday.

Ribéry magic
The UEFA Cup semi-finalists went ahead through Luca Toni after only eight minutes, with the Italian hitting the back of the net for the 36th time in 42 matches. Antonio da Silva levelled for the visitors, but Mark van Bommel curled in a free-kick on 55 minutes to restore Bayern’s lead, before talismanic French international Franck Ribéry came off the bench to score twice in two minutes. His first effort, a thunderous missile from long range, was more than equalled by his second, a firm left-footed drive after outfoxing two Stuttgart defenders.

Leverkusen stumble
That took Bayern 12 points clear with four matches left to contest, leaving them freer to concentrate on Thursday’s trip to face UEFA Cup rivals FC Zenit St. Petersburg. Ottmar Hitzefeld’s men will be back in the UEFA Champions League next season, of course, which is exactly what fourth-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen wish they could be saying. The 2001/02 runners-up could only draw 2-2 at home against VfL Wolfsburg, however, leaving them six points behind FC Schalke 04 and an invitation to Europe’s top table.

source: uefa.com

United Target Wiese As Van Der Sar Backup

The ‘News of the World’ today report that the 26 year old German is on the Old Trafford wanted list as they search for a back up to number one Edwin van der Sar.

The veteran Dutch keeper only has another couple of seasons at the very top with United and although Sir Alex Ferguson has lined up youngster Ben Foster as his successor, he wants to bring in a more experienced custodian in the shorter term.

Wiese has often drawn comparisons with Bayern keeper Oliver Kahn due to his ability and temperament, but he is also prone to making errors, as was seen recently in Werder’s Uefa Cup exit to Glasgow Rangers.

It is believed Wiese would demand a transfer fee in the region of £5 million.

source: goal.com

Click here to view Tim Wiese’s profile with pictures and videos

Karlsruher – Werder Highlights

Hard earned point in Karlsruhe

The 30th match day of the season is one that Werder Bremen won’t forget in a hurry after playing out a highly entertaining 3:3 draw with Karlsruher SC. 29,700 fans at the ‘Wildparkstadion’ saw Sebastian Freis (15’/59’) and Edmond Kapllani (67’) get on the score sheet for KSC whilst Diego (23’), Mesut Özil (29’) and Boubacar Sanogo (86’) were on target for the visitors.

Despite an impressive start to the game, which included a couple of good chances to take the lead through Boubacar Sanogo (3‘) and Ivan Klasnic (6‘), it wasn’t Werder who took the lead but, somewhat surprisingly, the hosts from Karlsruhe. In the 15th minute, the Green-White defence speculated on an off-side flag following a pass through from Tamas Hajnal but the referee waved play to go on and Sebastian Freis kept his cool to slot the ball into the right corner past Tim Wiese.

Werder were not about to buckle at that early stage and instead, trainer Thomas Schaaf’s side shifted up a gear and were rewarded with a well deserved equaliser in the 23rd minute. Tim Borowski got a shot in, which was blocked away by the KSC defence, but the ball fell perfectly for the on-rushing Diego who drove home to make it 1:1.

Soon after, the Green-Whites had further reason to celebrate. The impressive Tim Borowski laid a pass off to Mesut Özil and the young wingers shot somehow slipped through the gloves of KSC keeper Markus Miller and rolled over the line to give Werder a 2:1 lead at the break.

The second period started in similarly to the first – with a KSC goal! Freis made an unbelievable solo burst through the centre, which started in his own half of the pitch, and finished the move with a drive from 18 meters out, which proved too hot to handle for Tim Wiese, and suddenly the sides were level yet again – 2:2.

And things were to get worse for the Green-Whites! Just minutes after the equaliser, Alexander Iashvili put in a cross from the left wing, which found Edmond Kapllani and the Albanian shot into the far corner to make it 3:2 in the home sides favour (67’).

Werder Bremen were once again faced with a deficit and once again battled their way back into the game. It took until the 86th minute but then it was another piece of Diego magic that would make the difference. The Brazilian pulled a wonderful lobbed cross back from the touch line to find Sanogo perfectly placed at the far post to touch the ball over the line and secure a well earned point for Thomas Schaaf’s side.

The game at a glance:

Karlsruher SC: Miller – Görlitz, Eggimann, Franz, Eichner – Porcello (54′ Buck), Aduobe – Timm (56′ Iashvili), Hajnal, Freis – Kapllani (78′ Staffeldt).

Werder Bremen: Wiese – Fritz, Mertesacker, Naldo, Pasanen – Jensen – Borowski, Özil (84′ Almeida) – Diego – Klasnic (65′ Rosenberg), Sanogo.

Goals: 1:0 (15′) Freis, 1:1 (23′) Diego, 1:2 (29′) Özil, 2:2 (59′) Freis, 3:2 (67′) Kapllani, 3:3 (86′) Sanogo

Referee: Seemann (Essen)

Attendance: 29,700 (Wildparkstadion/sold out)

Yellow cards: Görlitz, Hajnal, Franz, Kapllani

source: werder.de

Bundesliga Round-Up: Schalke Triumph, Werder Held

Hamburg 0-1 Schalke

Caretaker trainer Mike Büskens and Youri Mulder got the better of their former boss Huub Stevens as Schalke beat Hamburg 1-0 thanks to an early goal from in-form Kevin Kuranyi.

Schalke made the dream start in front of a sell-out crowd at the HSH Nordbank Arena with a goal after just two minutes.  Albert Streit was allowed unimpeded down the right and his cross found Kevin Kuranyi unmarked, who headed past Frank Rost with relative ease.

Five minutes later and Altintop found himself one-on-one with Frank Rost.  He lofted the ball over the keeper, but also over the goal and the danger passed.  The home side had the better of the rest of the half, but their goalless run continued.

Much as HSV tried, they couldn’t find a way back and went down to another defeat which will have all but ended their hopes of Champions league football next season.

Karlsruhe 3-3 Werder Bremen

A superb game of attacking football at the Wildparkstadion, the home side will be the happier of the two sides after securing a point against a dominant Werder Bremen.

The visitors wasted numerous big chances, while KSC took theirs with ice cool precision to earn their point.

The home side took a surprise lead on 15 minutes through Sebastian Freis after Werder had dominated the opening stages.  The away side were busy claiming offside when Hajnal played Freis through on goal, and the midfielder kept his nerve before coolly slotting past Tim Wiese.

Werder duly got themselves back on level terms after 23 minutes with Diego getting his name on the score sheet.  Tim Borowski came into the area only to see his shot blocked by Timm, but the Brazilian was on hand to hammer the loose ball into the goal to equalise.

An end to end game then produced a third first half goal on 29 minutes and it was the visitors who grabbed it.  Borowski passed to Özil, who let fly with a first-time shot which flew past Markus Miller and into the back of the Karlsruhe net.

The second half was to prove just as exciting and the home side got themselves back level on the hour mark with Freis bagging his second with an unbelievable goal.

He ran half the length of the pitch, and beat three defenders before firing into the net past Wiese.  The game was then turned on it’s head when on 67 minutes Karlsruhe went ahead for the second time in the game.

Iashvili crossed from the left wing with a pinpoint ball to Kapllani, who fired past Wiese with his right foot to score his first-ever Bundesliga goal.

Werder refused to give up and were rewarded four minutes from time when Boubacar Sanogo got on the end of a lofted pass from Diego and only had to apply the finishing touch at the far post.

Nürnberg 2-2 Arminia Bielefeld

Nürnberg let slip a two-goal lead at home to Bielefeld to give up the chance of escaping the relegation zone.

The home side took the lead on 29 minutes when Marek Mintal and Jan Koller combined well in the penalty area, before the Slovak fired in a low shot into the left-hand corner to fire up the hopes of the home fans.

Those survival hopes were stoked up even further ten minutes later when Ivan Saenko latched onto a superb 40 meter long pass from Engelhardt following a Bielefeld corner and the Russian smashed the ball past a helpless Rowan Fernandez.

The away side however grabbed a goal back early in the second half when Wichniarek received the ball from substitute Zuma and beat Daniel Klewer with a right-foot shot.

Nürnberg then allowed the lead to slip from their hands on the hour mark when they allowed Bollmann to get his head on the end of a Marx cross to nod in and make it 2-2.

Energie Cottbus 2-1 Hansa Rostock

A second half fight back from Cottbus secured a vital win against fellow relegation candidates Hansa Rostock.

Poor defending from the home side lead to the opening goal for the visitors.  The ball was cleared from the area after a moment of Hansa pressure, when Angelov then played the ball backwards.  Before Tremmel could react to the pass, Cvetkovic had nipped in and fired past the unlucky keeper.

Minutes later Hansa had to clear the ball off the line after da Silva had headed a Skela corner goalwards.  Things then went from bad to worse for the home side when Igor Mitreski was booked twice within the space of eight minutes and the defender was sent off.

It took until the 82nd minute for ten-man Energie to get the equaliser and it came via a Skela cross.  After seeing his corner cleared, he crossed again and found Timo Rost, who headed in.

Then right at the death the home scored the winner.  Skela sent the ball goalwards, Rangelov won his aerial duel with Orestes, thumping his header past a helpless Wächter for a dramatic end to the game.

Hannover 2-2 Hertha Berlin

It was a game of two halves between Hannover and Hertha Berlin with the home side scoring twice in the first half, with the visitors grabbing two in the second.

An own goal from von Steve von Bergen brought Hannover the opening goal at the AWD Arena.  Szabolcs Huszti took control of the ball before passing to Bruggink.  The Dutch midfielder spotted Mike Hanke who shot but saw a huge deflection from the defender take the ball into the net.

With Hertha still trying to recover from the first goal Hannover grabbed a second on 26 minutes through Stajner.  A communication problem between Drobny and Simunic saw the defender head past the keeper and Stajner just waltzed through to poke into the empty net.

Ten minutes into the second half though and the visitors were given a way back into the game from the penalty spot after handball from Ismael.  Midfielder Sofian Chahed made no mistake from the spot kick to make it 2-1.

The capital club’s recovery was complete on 66 minutes when Lukasz Piszczek grabbed the equaliser when firing in superbly after a corner.

Bochum 1-1 Duisburg

In a good quality Bundesliga game, the points were shared.  Duisburg were for long periods the better side and took a deserved lead on 26 minutes when Niculescu fired in a superb direct free kick.

However a late equaliser from Stanislav Sestak in the 84th minute ruined their day and prevented them taking three vital points in their bid for survival.

source: goal.com