Werder Bremen 1-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach

The first half formations.

Borussia Mönchengladbach broke Bremen hearts with a surprise late equalizer after the home side failed to put the game to bed.

Both sides came into this game locked in a relegation battle. Werder, sat in 15th because Kaiserslautern had scored a 92nd minute earlier in the afternoon, were just two points above the drop zone, and six points ahead of bottom side Gladbach. There was a degree of confidence in both camps pre-match, with Gladbach on a high after last weekend’s triumph against Hoffenheim, and Bremen likewise following their 3-1 success at Freiburg. The visitors arrived at the Weserstadion without Igor de Camargo, but were at near enough full-strength. Werder, meanwhile, had to make do without Aaron Hunt and Naldo – Marko Marin and Wesley were on the bench, as Florian Trinks, who turned 19 the day before this game, was handed a rare start.

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Hamburg 4-0 Werder Bremen

The general formations used in the first half, which Hamburg won 1-0.

Armin Veh’s Hamburg tore woeful Werder Bremen apart in the north German derby. The hosts had a point to prove after a humiliating midweek defeat to city rivals St Pauli, and couldn’t have wished for better opponents than confidence-deprived, injury-hit Bremen. Hamburg, who left Ruud van Nistelrooy on the bench throughout, came into this game knowing they could move up to sixth spot with a win. Bremen, however, knew a loss could see them end the weekend in the relegation zone.

Thus, Bremen adopted the role of the stereotypical struggling away side from the off – content to let their hosts have the ball, and more concerned with keeping their formation tight (pushing high in a compact 4-1-4-1). Faced with an extremely flat rearguard, Mladen Petrić lingered on the last shoulder, making teasing runs designed to pull someone out of the shape. His side were patient in possession, showing only occasional flashes of penetration through Gojko Kačar’s long and searching balls from the back, or Heung-Min Son’s slipping in of some canny passes.