Werder vs Hannover highlights

Yesterday’s match highlights are here …

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Dortmund In Hunt For Klasnic

Reports in ‘Bild’ claim that Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund are ready to make a move for the Croatian forward, who looks to have returned to full fitness and his old form following a kidney transplant.

Klasnic has hit six goals in just 14 appearances since making his comeback for the Green and Whites, while also laying on two assists. He was on the mark yesterday as Werder thrashed Hannover 6-1 at the Weser Stadion.

Dortmund manager Michael Zorc however has refused to be drawn on the press speculation. “Basically I rule nothing out, but are happy with the attackers we have at the club” he said.

It is however known that trainer Thomas Doll was very interested in signing Klasnic from Werder when he was in charge at Hamburg. At the time, Klasnic stayed in Bremen, but Doll would love to see the Croatian at the Signal Iduna Park.

Klasnic is also in dispute with the Werder medical staff concerning their missed diagnosis of his kidney problem. He is currently in the process of suing Werder doctor Götz Dimanski for €1.5 million.

Dortmund would like to pair Klasnic up front alongside fellow Croat Mladen Petric, who plays with hi in the national team.

Klasnic, who earns around €1.8 million at Werder has also refused to confirm or deny the story saying only: “Anything is possible.”

source: goal.com

Schaaf: Everything Clicked Today

With the race for second place still ongoing with Schalke, it was important for Werder to win today against a Hannover side who were themselves looking at an outside chance of qualifying for Europe.

A 6-1 win was the perfect result for the Green and Whites, particularly as Schalke won their game against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Hugo Almeida and defender Naldo fired the home side into a 2-0 first half lead before four second half goals blew their Niedersachsen opponents away.

Second half goals from Tim Borowski, Ivan Klasnic, Aaron Hunt and Markus Rosenberg had the home fans celebrating another goal fest at the Weser Stadion and Hannover had to be content with an injury time consolation from Szabolcs Huszti.

“Everything simply clicked today” Schaaf beamed. “The game was perfectly matched to the sunny conditions.

“Next weekend we have to make sure that we take care of things ourselves. We cannot look at what Schalke are doing, but we have to look after ourselves.”

Hannover coach Dieter Hecking was understandably shocked by the thrashing. “Of course you can lose in Bremen. It’s also easy to concede four, five or six goals, but I am very disappointed in the way our keeper as left so exposed.

“Next year we want to improve and achieve a bit more” he added.

source: goal.com

Preparing to continue the ‘Football-Festival’ next week

Six goal scorers, three points and a ‘Football-Festival’! On the penultimate match day of the season, the fans in the Weser Stadium were treated to the sporting extravagances of a whole season concentrated into a single match. Spurred on by an immense will to win, and the knowledge that their goal difference could still play a vital role in their bid for direct qualification for next season’s Champions League, Frings, Rosenberg & Co. left their guests from Hannover no chance. “The whole team made it very clear that they have a target. They gave their all, and I hope we will achieve that goal next week,” declared trainer Thomas Schaaf.

Ironically, it was a defender that led the march for what would be a festival of goals against Hannover 96. Naldo made a fantastic solo run to set up the first goal – nothing new for the Brazilian, who played a perfect pass to himself, which completely duped the whole 96 defence: “I do things like that in training quite often, I’m supposed to pick the right moment to help out up front too. Aside from that, I had to go through on my own because the others were either marked or off-side,” analysed a level-headed Naldo.

Klaus Allofs was equally impressed by the afternoon of footballing excellence, but he did have a constraint or two: “It was a perfect afternoon, but I did have one unfulfilled wish,” remarked the general manager with a view to the result of the Schalke 04 match “It means we still can’t sum the whole season up after 33 games, we still haven’t met our target. We have a tough task ahead of us. Leverkusen need the points just as badly as we do.”

Thanks to the high scoring win, a draw at the BayArena should be enough to get the Green-Whites where they strive to be. Saturday’s high scoring display was an intentional effort on the Green-Whites behalf: “That is something we discussed in the changing room, which is why we raised the tempo yet further in the second half,” admitted Torsten Frings. And the fans definitely enjoyed it too!! Every goal that was scored fuelled the fires of the party at the Weser Stadium. The plan is for that party to be continued at the BayArena next week.

source: werder.de

Borowski bids an ‘emotional’ good-bye

As the fourth official raised the board to usher the substitution of the number ‘24’, it was as if 40,000 Werder fans were receiving the signal to get to their feet and honour Tim Borowski. On leaving the fray, the midfielder acknowledged all four stands in the stadium, applauded and made his way from the pitch at the Weser Stadium for the last time as a Werder Bremen player. His team mates on the bench used the moment to take the German international in their arms and bid their own farewell. When Borowski decided to head towards the changing rooms, the massed crowd in the stadium again rippled with applause and, for a moment, the match itself took second place – Pure emotion!!

There were no tears though, apparently! “If anything there were a couple of beads of sweat. My eyes were dry but that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t moved. I am very happy! I had hoped that it would come to this. I’m delighted that the fans acknowledged the fact that I gave my all right to the last,” remarked ‘Boro’, who was especially delighted about his goal: “That was a very special moment, particularly in the last home game.” And the midfield man looked back on his time in Bremen proudly: “There are certain people who made my career at Werder possible, I always tried to use what they taught me, and that worked very well for me.”

Tears or not, there were certainly goose-pimples upon goose-pimples under every jersey and suit: “The manner in which the fans bid him farewell was very moving. Everything slotted together, the atmosphere before the game, ‘Boro’s’ goal and the applause as he was substituted. I had goose bumps myself. I’m quite sure that all that will make his departure more difficult for him,” said general manager Klaus Allofs, who was very proud of how the Werder fans reacted: “You could certainly praise our fans for that. They are certainly not happy about his move to Bayern but they are able to rationalise that and honour his performances in the last few weeks as well as everything that he has done and achieved with us here over the years.

source: werder.de

Bundesliga Round-Up: Wolfsburg Stun Stuttgart, Cottbus Safe

The penultimate weekend of the Bundesliga season saw plenty of excitement and emotion as every single game was played on the same day. Champions Bayern Munich condemned Duisburg to relegation with a 3-2 win.

Wolfsburg’s dreams of a Uefa Cup spot were done the world of good with a stunning 4-0 win over fellow aspirants Stuttgart. Werder Bremen trounced Hannover 6-1 to maintain second place. Energie Cottbus beat Hamburg to secure their place in next season’s Bundesliga, while Nürnberg will have to go down to the wire in their bid to avoid the drop.

Duisburg 2-3 Bayern Munich

Schalke 1-0 Eintracht Frankfurt

Hansa Rostock 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen

Werder Bremen 6-1 Hannover

Karlsruhe 1-3 Bochum

Arminia Bielefeld 2-2 Borussia Dortmund

Wolfsburg 4-0 Stuttgart

Hertha Berlin 1-0 Nürnberg Energie

Cottbus 2-0 Hamburg

Duisburg 2-3 Bayern Munich

Bayern were victorious against Duisburg and condemned the Zebras to the second division next season.  The Bavarians did however concede two goals, which is a blow to their bid to beat the record for the lowest number of goals conceded in a season.

With the MSV Arena basking in sunshine, champions Bayern Munich got off to the perfect start with the opening goal falling after just three minutes.  A Schweinsteiger cross was cleared only as far as Ottl by Tararache, and the midfielder took two steps forward before rifling a shot into the bottom left-hand corner.

On 18 minutes Bayern grabbed their second of the game and it was like a training ground exercise.  Van Bommel was allowed to waltz down the right unchecked before crossing into the centre.  Lukas Podolski stood fully unmarked and headed past Tom Starke with ease.

Then with just 20 minutes on the clock, the game was over as a contest and the Zebras were staring relegation in the face.  Starke managed to parry a shot from Sosa only as far as Podolski, who stroked the ball into an empty net.

The home side did pull a goal back three minutes into the second half through Tararache.  He wasn’t dealt with satisfactorily by Ottl and fired home a fine shot from 22 meters into the left-hand corner.

Six minutes late and the deficit was further reduced when the Zebras scored a second.  After keeper Tom Starke had twice denied both Schlaudraff and Podolski, Duisburg broke up field and scored with a fortuitous goal when van Bommel saw a clearance ricochet off Daun and past Oliver Kahn.

Schalke 1-0 Eintracht Frankfurt

The Königsblauen kept up the pressure on second place Werder Bremen with a 1-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt

The crowd inside the Veltins Arena had to wait until the 65th minute for the opening goal, but were relieved to see it fall to the home side.  Ivan Rakitic fired in a free kick which was met by centre back Mladen Krstajic’s head with no Eintracht defender in sight.

The runners up spot will now be decided next weekend on the final day of the season.

Hansa Rostock 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen

Hansa have been relegated and Bayer have reclaimed a Uefa Cup spot with this 2-1 win for the away side.

The Werkself opened the scoring five minutes before the end of the first half with a penalty from Simon Rolfes.  Arturo Vidal won the ball on the right hand side and drove into the penalty area, where he was fouled by Lukimiya to hand Bayer a spot kick and give Hansa a real uphill task in the second half.

Leverkusen’s second of the afternoon fell on 58 minutes again from the penalty spot.  This time it was full back Gonzalo Castro who stroked the ball home after Hahnel had pulled down Bulykin in the area.

Hansa pulled a goal back on 67 through Menga before young Leverkusen substitute Jens Hegeler was sent off on his Bundesliga debut.

Werder Bremen 6-1 Hannover

A second half blitz from Werder saw them defend second place and inflict a massive defeat on local rivals Hannover with a 6-1 thrashing.

It was the home side that scored the opener at the Weser Stadion with Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida scoring after 14 minutes.  Naldo won possession in midfield and strode confidently forward through the Hannover defence.  Faced with keeper Enke he squared the ball unselfishly to Almeida, who had an easy task to stroke the ball home.

The provider of the first goal then scored the second after 27 minutes to put the home side in control.  Diego sent in a free kick from the right and Naldo got up ahead of Vinicius to nick the ball past Enke and into the net.

Thomas Schaaf’s side sealed the three points with a third goal after 73 minutes with midfielder Tim Borowski scoring in his final home game for Werder before his summer move to Bayern.  Diego’s free kick saw Ismael and Lala get in each others way and Borowski took advantage to volley home from close range.

The second half then turned into a complete rout.  Diego missed from the penalty spot on 80 minutes but in the follow up the Brazilian was able to get the ball back into the area where Ivan Klasnic rose to head home Werder’s fourth.

Two minutes later it was 5-0 with Markus Rosenberg latching onto a Klasnic pass before he prodded the ball home.  Then on 87 substitutes Özil and Hunt combined well to score the sixth of the afternoon for the Green and Whites.  Hunt applied the finishing touch to a move that completely by-passed the Hannover defence.

Into injury time, and Hannover scored a consolation goal through Szabolcs Huszti.  The away side were awarded a penalty after Frings fouled Stajner, and the Hungarian saw his effort saved by Wiese, but he managed to head in the rebound.

Karlsruhe 1-3 Bochum

Bochum ran out victorious in this game thanks largely to two goals within the space of three minutes at the start of the second half.

With the first half seemingly destined to finish goalless, Mimoun Azaouagh popped up late on to score.  Buck looked to play the ball but struck referee Gagelmann.  Azaouagh was the one to profit as he picked the ball up in his own half, before racing to the KSC penalty area and lashed the ball into the back of the net to hand Bochum the lead.

Then two goals within the space of three minutes early in the second half put the away side firmly in control.  On 47 minutes Dabrowski headed home an Azaouagh corner, and then Stanislav Sestak finished off a fine counter attacking move begun by Epalle to stun KSC.

The home side did manage a goal but it proved too little, too late.  Mario Eggimann fired home a right footed shot after Lastuvka had pushed away an effort from Timm following a corner.

Arminia Bielefeld 2-2 Borussia Dortmund

Bielefeld have done their survival hopes a world of good with a home point over Borussia Dortmund, although they will be kicking themselves that they didn’t win

The home side took the lead after 24 minutes via the penalty spot after BVB keeper Höttecke hauled down Wichniarek in the area as he looked to latch onto a long ball.  Thorben Marx stepped up to convert the spot kick with confidence.

Four minutes later though and the visitors were on level terms.  The Arminia defence was by-passed well by Blaszczykowski and Federico and Delron Buckley profited by firing in from the left hand side.

The goals kept coming and the home side got their noses back in front on 34 minutes with Wichniarek the scorer.  The Pole played the ball to Halfar and then carried on his forward run.  The resulting cross found him in the middle and he headed well past Höttecke into the left hand corner.

Just when it looked like a home win was on the cards Frei struck a free kick that bounced up and hit Rowan Fernandez on the head before going in for a tragic own goal.  Minutes earlier Robert Kovac had been sent off for the visitors.

Wolfsburg 4-0 Stuttgart

Felix Magath’s dreams of Europe are still very much alive after a stunning display saw his side beat Stuttgart 4-0 at the Volkswagen Arena.

After dominating proceedings during the opening quarter of an hour Wolfsburg were rewarded with a goal from Marcelinho on 16 minutes.  VfB keeper Raphael Schäfer made a real hash of a long-range effort from namesake Marcel Schäfer, and could only parry the ball to Marcelinho, who stroked the ball home from a tight angle.

Things then went from bad to worse for the visitors on 18 minutes when captain Fernando Meira was shown a straight red card for lashing out at Grafite, who went down rather theatrically.

1-0 became 2-0 after just 22 minutes when Edin Dzeko curled in a superb effort from the edge of the box after being fed by Grafite.  If the first goal was his fault, there was nothing he could have done to stop Dzeko’s effort for the second.

Ten minutes into the second half and the chances of VfB rescuing a point were reduced to minimal when Ricardo Costa headed in an Ashkan Dejagah corner to put Felix Magath’s side 3-0 up.

The rout worsened for ten-man Stuttgart on 75 minutes when second half substitute Dejagah got himself on the end of a cross from Makoto Hasebe before heading superbly past Schäfer to put the Wölfe 4-0 up.

Hertha Berlin 1-0 Nürnberg

A solitary goal from Raffael at the Olympiastadion was enough to see Hertha home and inflict further misery upon Nürnberg.

The Hertha playmaker sprinted onto a through pass beating Pinola before beating Klewer.  The defeat means that ‘der Klub’ are ever nearer being relegated and their fate will be decided next weekend on the final day of the season.  They have to beat Schalke and pray that Bielefeld don’t beat Stuttgart.

Energie Cottbus 2-0 Hamburg

Energie Cottbus have secured their top flight status with a 2-0 win over Hamburg, who are hanging onto their Uefa Cup spot by a thread.

Despite Hamburg having the better of the first half with regards possession and territory; it was the home side who took the lead on the half hour mark.  Stiven Rivic fired the Lausitzer in front with their first real effort on goal.  He latched onto a quick ball from Rangelov and proved too quick for Timothee Atouba to stop.

The second and decisive goal for Cottbus arrived on 84 minutes with Dane Sörensen the scorer.  A free kick deep in their own half saw Sörensen latch onto the ball and score from close range and send the home crowd into ecstasy.