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Werder Bremen 2 - 0 Energie Cottbus

66' [1 - 0] M. Rosenberg
79' [2 - 0] H. Almeida

Werder Bremen 2-0 Energie Cottbus

Werder Bremen have opened up a two point lead over second placed Schalke after a 2-0 win over Energie Cottbus at the Weser Stadion.

Second half goals from substitutes Markus Rosenberg and Hugo Almeida saw the home side to victory, and sees Cottbus back into the relegation mix.

Werder Bremen ran out deserved winners against Energie Cottbus with second half substitutes Markus Rosenberg and Hugo Almeida grabbing the all-important goals, which have opened up a two point lead over third place Schalke.

The Green and Whites are now in pole-position to finish as runners up to Champions Bayern Munich.

First Half

Werder started the first half on the attack with Mesut Özil firing in a shot from 25 meters. His effort was deflected, but Tremmel in the Cottbus goal was able to save. Naldo then thumped a free kick narrowly past the right hand post to make it two good efforts within the first three minutes.

The first five minutes saw Cottbus coming under tremendous pressure from the home side. Jensen fed Özil with a superb through pass on five minutes but once again keeper Tremmel was on hand to parry.

The first Cottbus attack of note came after ten minutes when they countered through Sörensen, but the Dane’s shot was blocked.

Tremmel in the Cottbus goal was certainly being kept busy, and an exquisite pass from Fritz to Jensen on 13 minutes led to another Werder opportunity, but the Danish midfielder saw his first time effort well saved by the Energie keeper.

Cottbus were then very lucky not to concede an own goal after Vragel da Silva almost deflected a Werder free kick into his own net, but he was thankful to Tremmel for once again saving the day.

With 25 minutes gone the Werder pressure seemed to abate and Cottbus managed to get themselves more into the game particularly in the midfield.

On 35 minutes, Cottbus striker Branko Jelic was forced off with a nasty head wound, and he was replaced by Vailjevic meaning that Sörensen had to act as a lone striker.

Just before the break Gerhard Tremmel was once again the saviour for Cottbus. Tim Borowski played a tremendous pass to Boubacar Sanogo, who shot from close range, but Tremmel was on and to save with a reflex save with his foot.

Second Half

After a fine first half, Werder very nearly allowed Cottbus in early in the second period. Angelov sprinted almost half the length of the field before being denied by Tim Wiese, who cleared his effort for a corner.

Werder trainer Thomas Schaaf then made a double change up front with Rosenberg and Almeida coming on for Klasnic and Sanogo. That move then paid instant dividends after 67 minutes.

Petri Pasanen sent Frings into the penalty area with a superb pass. The German international midfielder turned on the ball and crossed inside to Rosenberg, who beat Ziebig before firing an unstoppable shot into the left hand corner.

Five minutes later and Swedish striker Rosenberg was again on the attack, but after beating his marker on the edge of the area, he was denied by keeper Tremmel after turning and firing in a dangerous shot.

Werder’s other substitute then repaid the faith put in him by trainer Thomas Schaaf by scoring the home side’s second goal 11 minutes from time. Tim Borowski played a one-two with Rosenberg which by-passed the Cottbus defence with ease.

Borowski then fed Almeida, who was wide open at the far post and the Portuguese striker had the easiest of chances to make it 2-0.

Werder Bremen: Wiese, Fritz (Owomoyela 78), Naldo, Mertesacker, Pasanen, Frings, Jensen, Borowski, Özil, Klasnic (Rosenberg 56), Sanogo (Almeida 56)

Energie Cottbus: Tremmel, da Silva, Radeljic, Cvitanovic, Ziebig, Rost, Angelov, Rivic (Rangelov 68), Skela (Papadopulos 84), Sörensen, Jelic (Vasiljevic 35)

Goal.com - Bundesliga - Werder Strengthen Position With Cottbus Win