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Werder win over Mainz 05 maintains pressure on Schalke

Paul Freier, right, of Leverkusen and Moenchengladbach's Marcell Jansen fight for the ball during their Bundesliga match at the BayArena stadium in Leverkusen, Germany, on Sunday. PHOTO: EPA

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 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.

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 chasing an equalizing goal.

"This was a key win for us," Schaaf said. "If we had lost, Schalke would have enjoyed a big lead and it was important that we didn't let them get away."

In the day's other game, bottom-side Borussia Moenchengladbach travelled 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 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.
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