Europa League: Werder 3 – 1 Athletic Bilbao

By: Jamie | October 1st, 2009

The Green-Whites move to the top of Group L with a great win over their La Liga opponents. I felt a bit inspired at half-time, put together my thoughts, then continued writing as the second half progressed. So bear with me; here’s my as-the-match-happens blog:

First half thoughts:

Aaron Hunt’s goal – fantastic. Oh man. You can’t strike a volley much better than that. Prior to the goal, there was some lovely passing between the younger Werder boys (Marin, Bargfrede, Özil, Hunt) and yes, it was a bit lucky that the ball fell to Hunt, but wow. What a gorgeous strike! The keeper didn’t even get a sniff. That boy is on a roll. I’m glad to see him still in the squad with Özil, instead of just being his back-up. I guess we can thank Borowski for getting injured at the appropriate time, but that’s a bit cruel on Boro.

And the second goal was well played, too. The ball fell for Pizarro and I – along with perhaps everyone else watching the match – expected him to stuff in into the back of the net (or directly at the keeper, as is another Werder habit). He took his time getting to the ball, looked like he was setting to strike – then instead passed to Naldo (makeshift striker once again) who banged it in. Awesome.

We were fortunate to successfully get away with a few fluffs the first half. Wiese made a spectacular mess of a clearance, managing to slice the ball out of play instead of missing it completely, then made an impressive somersalt as he fell over. Then, Athletic had a brilliant chance to score, but Toquero fluffed his shot, allowing a very surprised Naldo to clear.

Side note: “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was playing during half-time at the Weserstadion. Some fans are singing along. If the Green-Whites are trying to win my heart further, they are succeeding.

Second half thoughts:

Marko can’t seem to buy a goal. The guy works so hard, but he also tends to dribble right into traffic and get robbed of the ball. But, his freekicks into the box have been excellent today. Unfortunately nobody could hit any of them goalward.

Side note Part 2: The referee looks like Daniel Faraday from Lost! This is highly amusing to me.

Ridiculous – Niemeyer is on the pitch for FOUR minutes, manages to pick up a second yellow card, and is sent off. They were both nasty tackles, yes, with the slippery pitch working against Niemeyer as well. The second offense seemed a bit unfair as the Faraday-ref didn’t look like he was going to give a yellow card until he saw that the player down needed medical assistance. Now the Werder defense really have a job to do. Frustration builds quickly as Hunt is penalized for whining at Faraday-ref. Athletic show they can play dirty as well when their player goes studs-up on Marko’s ankle.

With 15 minutes to go, Schaaf takes off Marin and brings on – Rosenberg? Surely you’d want to bring on more defensive help? I am always happy for the Swede to get on the pitch, but this isn’t the substitution I would have made. But this is why I’m not the coach, I guess.

Aaaaand then, into injury time, Werder give up the inevitable goal. I don’t blame them; they were very impressive defensively, especially considering for the last 20-plus minutes they were playing with 10 men.

And at practically the last second, Werder get a penalty! Frings buries it, and we can breathe a sigh of relief for the remaining moments. 3-1 at home to the Green-Whites in what I thought was an entertaining match.