Bremen Hit Bayern
October 22, 2006
Bremen, champions in 2004, are now three points ahead of Bayern, although Schalke 04 are level with them on 16 points, as they bid to stop the title going to Munich for the third successive season.
"If we carry on playing like this I think it is fair to say we have a good chance of winning the title," said midfielder Torsten Frings.
Goals from Brazilian Diego, Cameroon international Pierre Wome and an own goal from Brazilian World Cup winner Lucio clinched the points for Bremen after Bayern had threatened a comeback when Roy
Makaay scored.
"We constantly went forward and tried to create chances against a very good team," said Bremen manager Thomas Schaaf. "We are top of the table but are not relaxing. There is a lot of hard work to do before we can achieve our goals."
Third defeat
League and cup holders Bayern fell to fourth after their third defeat of the season, the same number they lost in the whole of last season.
"Werder deserved the win for the way they started. We did not put up enough resistance and at 2-0 the game was wide open," explained Bayern coach Felix Magath. "The own goal then decided the match for them and we are all very disappointed."
Schalke leapfrogged Bayern with a 2-1 win over Hannover and are only behind Bremen on goal difference. Goals from Zlatan Bajramovic (18min) and Levan Kobiaschvili (27) put Schalke in command early on and they held on for the three points.
"We had a shaky period after they scored in the second half but we got the three points and need to keep on going," said Schalke captain Frank Rost.
Hertha Berlin also moved above the champions on goal difference after a 2-1 win over Borussia Monchengladbach.
Bayern kept faith with their adventurous 4-3-3 formation as Lukas Podolski, Claudio Pizarro and Makaay started in a three-man attack.
Bremen were forced to draft Jurica Vranjes in as a late replacement for German international defender Christian Schulz who injured himself in the pre-match warm-up.
Frantic start
The match started at a frantic pace and a goal came after just 11 minutes with Bremen's Brazilian playmaker Diego, a record six million euro signing from FC Porto, hammering an unstoppable shot past Oliver Kahn with the ball crashing in off the underside of the crossbar.
Bayern were firmly on the backfoot and fell further behind in the 34th minute with Wome's swerving free-kick leaving Kahn rooted to the spot.
The champions responded quickly with Dutch forward Makaay volleying in three minutes later for Bayern's 3,000th Bundesliga goal.
Bremen fans feared a comeback but Lucio deflected a Wome cross into his own net just after the hour mark to give Bremen some breathing space.
"The Lucio own goal was unlucky but we made too many mistakes for a game at this level," said Bayern's French international Willy Sagnol.
On Sunday SV Hamburg, third last season, go in search of their first win of the season at Bayer Leverkusen.
Hamburg are third from bottom of the Bundesliga and are the only team yet to win in the German top-flight.
Racism crackdown
Elsewhere German football began its campaign to crack down on racism with fans across the country holding up big red cards reading: 'show racism the red card'.
Racism came to the fore in September when supporters of Hansa Rostock's reserve team directed monkey noises at Schalke's Ghana-born German international Gerald Asamoah during a cup match. Similar incidents followed prompting German football chiefs to take action.