TNT Sports
Flying start for Bremen
By
Published 06/08/2005 at 19:46 GMT+1
Werder Bremen beat Arminia Bielefeld 5-2 in a high-scoring opening round of the Bundesliga on Saturday. Germany striker Miroslav Klose and Croatian Ivan Klasnic both scored two goals in a game that saw Bremen cruise to an easy victory.
Eurosport
Image credit: TNT Sports
Klose scrambled a goal in the opening minute of an entertaining match in which Bielefeld equalised twice through Nebosja Krupnikovic and Sibusiso Zuma before late strikes from Klose and Klasnic sent Bremen to the top of the table.
Bielefeld's trainer Thomas von Heesen was disappointed at his side's frequently shaky defence but there was no doubting that Bremen, double winners in 2003/04, were the better team.
"We made it hard for ourselves. Our performance in attack was alright and we were rewarded with two goals but then we spoiled it all for ourselves with mistakes," he said.
"Werder deserved the victory even if it was maybe a bit more than it should have been."
The result put Bremen ahead of champions Bayern Munich who beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-0 on Friday and will encourage them before their Champions League meeting with FC Basel on Wednesday.
VfB Stuttgart's new Italian coach, former Bayern Munich trainer Giovanni Trapattoni, had to be content with a 1-1 draw with MSV Duisburg on his return to the German league.
It was a scrappy start for Stuttgart with the club's top signing, Denmark striker Jon Dahl Tomasson, failing to make much of an impact and being substituted before the end.
A red card for Stuttgart's goal scorer Cacau after a sliding challenge in the 68th minute left his team with 10 men but Trapattoni had no complaints about either the result or the referee's decision to send off the Brazilian striker.
"The draw was a fair result. Some of my players aren't at top fitness yet but we could still have won at the end," he said. "The red card for Cacau was alright. He should be able to keep his nerve."
Hamburg SV, boosted by new signing Rafael van der Vaart, beat Nuremberg 3-0, although the Dutch midfielder had a quiet game in his Bundesliga debut, leaving Emile Mpenza and Sergei Barbarez to settle the result.
Cologne, last season's second division champions, were slightly fortunate to beat Mainz 1-0 through an 87th minute penalty by Bjoern Schlicke.
Hanover 96 and Hertha Berlin fought out a 2-2 draw, the same result reached by VfL Wolfsburg and Borussia Dortmund. The latter game was notable for the debut of Dortmund's 16-year-old Nuri Sahin, the youngest player in the Bundesliga's history
On Sunday, Schalke 04 meet Kaiserslautern, while EintrachtFrankfurt play Bayer Leverkusen.
Related Topics
Advertisement
Advertisement