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.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
Sergio Ramos on Tuesday outfoxed two Inter players and artfully headed home the first goal for Monterrey at the FIFA Club World Cup. The 39-year-old Ramos slipped through the penalty area for the score just as he did for so many years in the shirts of Real Madrid and Spain’s national team, with whom he combined smarts, timing and physicality. Ramos’ clever goal and his overall defensive play at the Rose Bowl were major factors in Monterrey’s impressive 1-1 draw against the UEFA Champions League finalists in the clubs’ first match of the tournament. “There is always a joy to contribute to the
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
RSS