Werder Bremen defeat Bayer Leverkusen, Augsburg remain fourth in Bundesliga

IANS
Werder Bremen players celebrate their 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen

Berlin, Feb 9 (IANS) Werder Bremen ensured their third straight win in 2015 as they beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 while Augsburg gave away a 2-0 lead to share the spoils with Frankfurt at the close of the 20th round of the German Bundesliga.

Bremen maintained their winning run, as two first-half goals were enough to overcome Leverkusen on home soil Sunday, reports Xinhua.

Leverkusen took the reins from the kick-off but Bremen's wait and see strategy paid off 17 minutes into the game as Davie Selke completed a fast break via Clemens Fritz and Fin Bartels.

Leverkusen pressed for the equaliser, but the hosts again scored when Zlatko Junuzovic doubled the lead with an unstoppable free-kick into the top right corner.

The visitors didn't lose heart and were rewarded just before the break. Bremen were unable to clear the ball from their goal area and Hakan Calhanoglu headed home a rebound into the open goal from very close range to make it 2-1 in the 43rd minute.

After the restart, Leverkusen pressed the Bremen into the defence but all their efforts remained fruitless as the hosts protected their one goal lead to the end. With the win, Bremen jumped from 11th to eighth position while Leverkusen slipped to the sixth place.

Elsewhere, Augsburg missed the chance to climb third place as they gave away a two-goal lead to share the points with Frankfurt.

The hosts caught a perfect start on home soil thanks to Ragnar Kalavan who opened the scoring with just seven minutes into the game. Augsburg controlled the game and extended the lead through Raul Bobadilla with eight minutes remaining in the first half.

It wasn't the last goal of the first half as Frankfurt reduced the arrears out of thin air when Stefan Aigner tapped in a rebound following a free-kick in the dying minutes of the first half.

Frankfurt restored parity in the 70th minute as Alexander Meier completed a swift counter-attack, initiated by Carlos Zambrano, to mark his 14th goal of the season. Augsburg are still in fourth place while Frankfurt occupy ninth.

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