week 2 - match report

Westermann equaliser reward for gutsy performance in Bremen

An all-out effort saw the Royal Blues rescue a 1-1 draw at Werder Bremen on Saturday. Torsten Frings gave the home side the lead after 64 minutes, but Heiko Westermann grabbed an equaliser five minutes from time. After the game Fred Rutten was full of praise for his side's resolve.

The Schalke team showed just one change from the victorious season opener, Carlos Grossmüller coming in for the injured Jermaine Jones. The Uruguay international operated in front of the two holding midfielders, Fabian Ernst and Levan Kobiashvili.

In front of a sell-out 42,100 crowd at the Weser Stadium the game was a briskly contested affair in the opening half-hour. Both teams played some attractive football and there were plenty of chances at both ends.

Werder's biggest chance fell to Claudio Pizarro on his return to the Bundesliga. But with just Mathias Schober to beat, he met his match in the Schalke keeper, who turned the ball past the post for a corner. Indeed, Manuel Neuer's stand-in gave a respectable performance throughout, denying Rosenberg on two occasions and keeping out a header from Pizarro. Nevertheless he will have been relieved to see Mesut Özil's shot fizz just past the left-hand upright.

The Royal Blues had chances of their own, but Kobiashvili, Marcelo Bordon, Halil Altintop and Kevin Kuranyi all failed to put the ball in the net. The biggest chance fell to Ivan Rakitic, however, but after Petri Pasanen's headed backpass had fallen short the Croatia international fired over from six metres.

Bremen had the better of things after the interval, as Schalke boss Fred Rutten readily admitted. And they took a deserved lead on 64 when Torsten Frings took advantage of some good work by former Schalke midfielder Mesut Özil. After that The Royal Blues had Schober to thank for not going two down. He pulled off two magnificent stops against Daniel Jensen and Markus Rosenberg, and Hugo Almeida's miss seven minutes from time meant the Royal Blues were still in with a chance.

"We lost our shape at times in the second half", conceded Rutten after the final whistle. But the Dutchman also had words of praise for his team. "After we had gone behind I always had the feeling that the players were desperate to get the equaliser." And they got their reward for a gutsy display. After Benedikt Höwedes, twice, and Rakitic had both gone close, Heiko Westermann made no mistake with five minutes left to play.

Bremen keeper Tim Wiese was able to keep out Höwedes's initial header, but there was nothing he could do to prevent Westermann from stabbing the ball over the line from close range to make it 1-1. "When you get a point away from home in such an important game, and when you consider how it unfolded, you have reason to be satisfied", said Rutten.

Though the Dutchman agreed the late equaliser will be a great boost for his side, he doesn't believe it will have any relevance for Wednesday's Champions League visit to Atletico Madrid. "There was a lot of water here today, but it'll be a fiery evening in Spain."

Bremen: Wiese- Pasanen, Prödl, Naldo, Boenisch - Baumann - Frings, Jensen - Özil (Fritz 86') - Rosenberg (Almeida 74'), Pizarro (Sanogo 80')

Schalke: Schober - Westermann, Höwedes, Bordon, Pander - Ernst, Kobiashvili - Grossmüller (Sanchez 77') - Altintop (Asamoah 70'), Kuranyi, Rakitic

Referee: Fleischer (Sigmertshausen)

Goals: 1-0 Frings (64'), 1-1 Westermann (85')

Attendance: 42,100 (sold out)

Yellow cards: Ernst