01.02.2010

Borussia edge seven-goal thriller

A magnificent first-half performance and an outstanding Raul Bobadilla saw Borussia to a 4-3 win over Werder Bremen on Saturday afternoon.

Borussia, fielding an unchanged side from the one that drew 0-0 at Hertha BSC Berlin last week, got off to a dream start. Tobias Levels slotted a through pass in behind the Bremen defence to send Raul Bobadilla clear down the right, and instead of going for goal himself the Argentine striker unselfishly squared the ball for Marco Reus, who was left with the simple task of knocking it into the net to open the scoring on five minutes.

Though the action continued to unfold in and around the Borussia penalty area, Werder were unable to mount a significant threat in the opening stages. The same could not be said of Borussia, however. Michael Frontzeck's men were highly focused whenever Bremen were in possession and highly effective on the break, as they demonstrated when their second counterattack of the game produced another goal on 12 minutes. Reus sent a long down the right to Bobadilla, who having seen that Roberto Colautti had lost the attentions of his marker played another unselfish square ball for the Israel striker to prod home.

Just six minutes later Bobadilla capped what had been a whirlwind performance to that point by adding a third. When Reus dispatched another long ball down the right the Borussia number 10 was left unchallenged, allowing him to take Bremen keeper Tim Wiese by surprise with a shot on the turn that sneaked in at the near post to send the BORUSSIA PARK crowd wild with delight.

The game continued in the same pattern, with Bremen dictating the play and Borussia solid at the back and a major threat on the break. In the 24th minute, however, Reus showed too much consideration when, clean through on goal, he knocked the ball square instead of going for goal himself. And seven minutes later it was Bobadilla's turn to squander an opportunity when his lob cleared Wiese, only to drop wide of the post.

This came after Bremen had pulled a goal back, Mesut Özil netting after a one-two with former Borussia favourite Marko Marin. But Bobadilla responded again on 35 when he chased after a long pass from Thorben Marx, charged down Wiese's attempted clearance and slid the ball into the empty net. Yet despite the three-goal deficit Bremen refused to lie down and posed an ever greater threat. And moments after Marin had struck the bar from a free-kick they pulled one back again, Claudio Pizarro getting on the end of an Aaron Hunt cross to bring a highly entertaining first half to an end.

Bremen with four strikers

Werder cranked up the pace after the break but were unable to fashion any clear-cut opportunities. Borussia, on the other hand, struggled to get their counterattacking game moving again in the opening quarter of an hour. With the pressure on Logan Bailly's goal increasingly mounting it came as something of a surprise when Borussia created the first chance of the second half on 64. Marco Reus fired in a shot after Juan Arango's free-kick had been blocked, but Wiese made the save.

With time running out Bremen threw everything forward, introducing strikers number three and four in Almeida and Rosenberg for two defenders. And soon after coming on Almeida missed a fantastic chance to make it 4-3 with a shot on the turn. Bremen were working hard, but looked cramped, unlike Raul Bobadilla. Though not quite as conspicuous as in the first 45 minutes he was still enjoying himself, as he showed when he went within a whisker of scoring his third with another lob over Wiese's head, but the Werder keeper chased back to paw the ball off the line.

The tension reached its peak six minutes from time when referee Felix Brych awarded Werder a penalty after Bailly had brought down Marin, allowing Frings to make it 4-3, but Borussia managed to protect their lead until the end. Though Michael Frontzeck's men enjoyed a string of chances on the break in the second half, the BORUSSIA PARK crowd were left biting their nails until the end before Borussia finally claimed the three points their performance ultimately deserved.

Borussia: Bailly – Levels, Brouwers, Dante, Daems – Marx, Bradley – Reus, Arango (Kleine 85') – Bobadilla (Herrmann 80'), Colautti (Friend 75')

Bremen: Wiese - Fritz, Mertesacker, Naldo, Abdennour (Almeida 57') - Frings – Borowski (Rosenberg 64'), Hunt - Özil - Pizarro, Marin

Goals: 1-0 Reus (5'), 2-0 Colautti (12'), 3-0 Bobadilla (18'), 3-1 Özil 26', 4-1 Bobadilla (35'), 4-2 Pizarro (40'), 4-3 Frings (pen. 85')

Yellow cards: Bobadilla, Bailly – Naldo, Pizarro, Fritz

Referee: Dr Felix Brych