Claudio Pizarro scored twice, including the winner deep into stoppage-time, as Werder Bremen squeezed a 2-1 Bundesliga win over Hertha BSC Berlin, who played the last half hour with nine men on Sunday.
The visitors had Christian Lell and goalscorer Adrian Ramos sent off in a six-minute spell in the second half, but were on the point of holding out for a 1-1 draw until Pizarro headed home at the far post in the 93rd minute.
Ramos had given Hertha a fourth-minute lead and Pizarro leveled in the 23rd minute as Werder went second in the table, two points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
Photo: AFP
The Peruvian also had a goal disallowed in the 81st minute, a decision that caused Werder coach Thomas Schaaf to protest so much that he was also sent off.
Lukas Podolski set up one goal and scored the second to give Cologne a 2-0 win over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in Sunday’s other game.
Promoted Hertha went ahead when Rafael’s low cross picked out Colombia striker Ramos, who held off a defender’s challenge and dinked his shot into the far corner.
Pizarro, the highest-ever scoring foreigner in the Bundesliga, leveled when he outjumped his marker at the far post to head in Clemens Fritz’s long cross from the left for the 146th Bundesliga goal of his career.
Hertha’s troubles began in the 57th minute when Lell was sent off for a shocking and senseless late tackle deep in the Werder half. Ramos followed six minutes later when he was given a second yellow card for pushing an opponent.
Werder spent the rest of the game laying siege to the Hertha area, although, apart from Pizarro’s disallowed effort, they threatened little, with Marko Arnautovic shooting high or wide every time he got within sight of goal.
Hertha survived a flurry of corners and free-kicks, then, incredibly, nearly snatched a winner when Rafael’s shot was deflected over the crossbar on the break.
Their resistance ended when Pizarro was left unmarked at the far post at a corner and he predictably took advantage to score his fifth goal of the season in the third minute of stoppage-time.
In the other game, Cologne went ahead in the 20th minute when Podolski was sent clear on the left and he pulled a low ball back for Mato Jajalo to score with a shot that went between a defender’s legs.
Stripped of the captaincy before the start of the season by new coach Stale Solbakken, Podolski had a shot well saved by Tom Starke and then produced a brilliant piece of skill on the goal-line to set up another chance for his side.
Podolski was close with a long-range effort in the 52nd minute and he was rewarded 12 minutes later, collecting an excellent through ball from Christian Eichner, before fooling Starke with a clever dummy and slotting the ball home.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that