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17 December 2003
HAMBURG – Werder Bremen assure themselves of hibernating atop the Bundesliga standings on Tuesday night while champions Bayern Munich got their biggest season win, 6-0 at SC Freiburg.
Ailton scored his 16th goal in 17 games early on while Valerien Ismael and Krisztian Lisztes wrapped up matters in the final 12 minutes as Bremen defeated Hansa Rostock 3-0.
Bremen lead the way with 39 points as they top the bill at the halfway mark for the fifth time in club history. But they only managed to win the championship in two of those seasons, in 1965 and 1988. Bremen also won the Bundesliga in 1993.
Munich sent a clear signal to their rivals with the emphatic victory in Freiburg and moved into temporary second place with 35 points.
But they can be passed by VfB Stuttgart (35) or Bayer Leverkusen (32), who meet in Stuttgart on Wednesday.
Bremen got a dream start into the game with Rostock, who came to town undefeated in six games.
With just three minutes elapsed, defender Delano Hill slipped which gifted Ailton an esy tap-in for the 1-0 lead off Karsten Baumann’s cross.
But Bremen dominance did not last long as the visitors regrouped. In the 21st, Bremen goalkeeper Andreas Reinke needed to pull out a first-class save against the unmarked Rade Prica.
The match remained balanced, but Bremen finally emerged winners from the two late goals by Ismael and Lisztes.
“We are not as fresh as at the start of the season. But we were concentrated for most parts of the game and got the goals at the right time,” said Bremen defender Fabian Ernst.
Even with playmaker Michael Ballack suspended, Munich made short work of Freiburg as they played their best match of a so far indifferent season.
Argentinian defender Martin Demichelis headed his first Bundesliga goal in the sixth minute off Ze Roberto’s corner-kick.
Hasan Salihamidzic doubled the lead in the 23rd and the reliable Roy Makaay fired a low shot for 3-0 five minutes later. Claudio Pizarro’s header on the hour, Makaay’s 10th season goal in the 67th and Piotr Trochowski in the 89th rounded off Munich’s win.
“The team had a lot of pressure in the past months. But we we will attack after the winter break,” vowed coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.
In other action, Cologne defeated 10-man Hertha Berlin 3-0. Eintracht Frankfurt saw a last-minute penalty from Erwin Skela saved in a 3-2 home defeat against SV Hamburg.
As a result Cologne climbed from last to 16th place, Hertha fell from 16th to 17th and Frankfurt dropped from 17th to last place at least until the league resumes on January 31.
Further Wednesday games apart from Stuttgart vs. Leverkusen are Hanover vs. Bochum, 1860 Munich vs. Moenchengladbach, Dortmund vs. Kaiserslautern and Schalke vs. Wolfsburg.
DPA
Subject: German news