Striker Hugo Almeida helped Werder Bremen maintain their stranglehold over Hamburg on Sunday as a 2-0 win seriously dented their rivals’ Bundesliga title aspirations.
The defeat leaves Martin Jol’s Hamburg sixth in the league — and outside the European places — five points behind leaders Wolfsburg with only three games left before the season finishes on May 23.
This was the fourth meeting between the two teams in 19 days and with Bremen having taken the spoils in both the German Cup and UEFA Cup meetings, Werder also took three more points off Hamburg at the Weserstadion.
PHOTO: AP
“We take this game very seriously,” said Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf.
“The team worked hard the whole week and we were rewarded for with a good win,” he said. “It was great to see the players getting the reward.”
The Hamburg defense was caught out for both goals as Almeida rifled home having been left unmarked on 34 minutes and then took advantage of a cross from Mesut Oezil to seal the win on 49 minutes.
“Both teams were fighting hard in the first half,” Jol said. “But there was a certain lethargy in both teams.”
Having won 3-2 at Hamburg in the UEFA Cup semi-final on Thursday to book their place in the Istanbul final on May 20, the three Bundesliga points on Sunday leaves Bremen tenth.
But the club will have to do without the services of defender Per Mertesacker for the rest of the season after he picked up an ankle injury in Thursday’s win.
Also on Sunday, Borussia Moenchengladbach pulled themselves out of the bottom three and into 15th with a 1-0 win at home to Schalke 04.
On Saturday Mario Gomez scored all four goals in Stuttgart’s 4-1 win over league leaders Wolfsburg to blow open the title race.
With Bayern Munich, Hertha Berlin and Stuttgart all picking up three points, there are now just two points separating the top four sides with only three games left.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two