Werder Bremen started the second half of the Bundesliga with a defeat as Thomas Schaaf’s team lost on the road at Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 with a disappointing showing. The only goal of the game was scored by Marco Russ in the 57th minute.

In the first game of the second half, Werder coach Thomas Schaaf had to do without Claudio Pizarro, who started on the bench in favour of Markus Rosenberg in the attack. New acquisition Aymen Abdennour was also in the starting line-up as left back in his first game for the Green-Whites. In front of their home fans, Frankfurt relied on a compact defence which did not allow many chances for Schaaf’s men. Aaron Hunt had his first chance of the game in the 23rd minute from 16 yards but Frankfurt keeper Oka Nikolov was too good with his quick reflex. Werder were the better side in the first half but could not create enough chances in a poor first half and the teams went into the break even at 0-0.

Frankfurt took the lead 12 minutes after the break in surprising fashion. After a corner, Werder were unable to clear the ball from their zone and Chris’s pass somehow made its way through the mouth of the goal to Marco Russ, who beat Werder keeper Tim Wiese from eight yards. Thomas Schaaf reacted immediately and brought in Claudio Pizarro and Daniel Jansen for Markus Rosenberg and Tim Borowski. Werder increased their pressure offensively but were not relaxed enough to finish their attacks. Hugo Almeida was subbed in with 15 minutes left for new acquisition Aymen Abdennour but the Portuguese striker could not add the necessary impulse for the Green-Whites. Shortly before the final whistle, Naldo missed an excellent chance to equalise and Mesut Özil also could not find the target in a dangerous situation in extra time. In the end, Eintracht Frankfurt were able to hold on for a 1-0 victory.

Eintracht Frankfurt: Nikolov - Spycher, Russ, Chris, Franz - Schwegler, Teber- Köhler (90’ Caio), Meier, Ochs - Liberopoulos (90’+4 Preuß)

Werder Bremen: Wiese - Abdennour (75’ Almeida), Naldo, Mertesacker, Fritz - Frings, Borowski (61’ Jensen), Hunt, Özil - Marin, Rosenberg (61’ Pizarro); reserves: Vander - Pasanen, Prödl, Niemeyer

Goal: 1-0 (57’) Russ

Yellow cards: Teber, Chris (both Frankfurt) - Marin, Almeida (both Werder)

Referee: Michael Weiner (Giesen)

Commerzbank Arena: 45,600 spectators