Football: Uninspired Bayern edge past Bremen

Top Stories

Football: Uninspired Bayern edge past Bremen
Bayern Munich's Austrian midfielder David Alaba and his teammates celebrate after scoring during the German first division Bundesliga match against Werder Bremen.

Berlin - Leipzig keep pace with a defeat of previously unbeaten Hoffenheim

By AP

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Sat 28 Jan 2017, 9:38 PM

Last updated: Sat 28 Jan 2017, 11:52 PM

Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich produced another uninspired performance in a 2-1 win at Werder Bremen, while Leipzig kept pace Saturday with a defeat of previously unbeaten Hoffenheim.
Hoffenheim had been the last unbeaten team across Europe's five biggest leagues.
Bremen made a disciplined start to the second half of the season, but a rare break forward came to nothing as the home side appeared to lack the confidence to follow through.
The visitors went ahead just after the half-hour mark, when Franck Ribery ran at the Bremen defense and crossed for fellow winger Arjen Robben to score with a brilliant left-footed strike inside the post.
David Alaba did even better to make it 2-0 at the break with a free kick, stroking the ball over the wall into the top right corner and in off the post.
Home fans must have feared a repeat of the 6-0 drubbing Bayern gave Bremen on the opening weekend of the season.
But it was as good as it got from Bayern.
Max Kruse displayed a wonderful turn of foot to elude Alaba after taking Zlatko Junuzovic's cross before rifling the ball into the roof of the net in the 53rd.
The home side was transformed and Bayern appeared increasingly toothless as Thomas Mueller, Robben and then Ribery were substituted.
Bayern, which was similarly short of ideas against Freiburg the previous weekend, maintained its three-point lead over Leipzig after 18 games.
Bayer Leverkusen was to host Borussia Moenchengladbach for the late game.
Naby Keita went closest for Leipzig early on, but Nadiem Amiri stunned the home side with the opener on a counterattack led by Sebastian Rudy in the 18th. Rudy found Kerem Demirbay, and the ball worked its way to Amiri and then Andrej Kramaric, who had the vision to return the ball for his teammate to score.
Timo Werner equalised minutes before the break, taking the ball from Keita and prodding the ball past Oliver Baumann after Hoffenheim failed to clear.
Both sides pressed hard with Germany coach Joachim Loew watching in the stands, but Leipzig was handed the advantage with half an hour remaining when Sandro Wagner was sent off for a stamp on Stefan Ilsanker.
Marcel Sabitzer struck the winner with just over 10 minutes remaining, with Keita again involved before he scored with a deflected shot.


More news from