with quotes

New to Raw Story? Click here to visit our home page for the latest news.

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Saturday December 9, 2006

Hamburg- Brazilian defender Naldo scored a hat-trick as free-scoring Werder Bremen bounced back from Champions League elimination with a 6-2 thrashing of Eintracht Frankfurt Saturday. The victory in Frankfurt moves Bremen to 33 points at the top of the German Bundesliga, two points clear of VfB Stuttgart who scraped a late 1-0 win over visiting Bochum, while champions Bayern Munich maintained the pressure with a 2-1 defeat of Energie Cottbus.

Bayern stay fourth on 30 points, level with third-placed Schalke 04 who play Borussia Dortmund in the Ruhr derby on Sunday.

Bremen showed no signs of a negative reaction to Tuesday's 2-0 defeat at Barcelona as Naldo struck twice and Daniel Jensen was also on target in the first half before the Brazilian nailed his third shortly after the break.

Frankfurt had levelled Naldo's third-minute opening goal when Marco Russ headed in a minute later. But after Jensen struck from close range in the 11th minute, Naldo headed in a Torsten Frings free-kick just after the half hour and was again on target with a direct free-kick three minutes after the break.

Greek defender Sortirios Kirgiakos gave the home side brief hope with a header from a corner six minutes from time, but Bremen substitute Jurica Vranjes made it 5-2 in the 86th minute and Brazilian midfielder Diego completed the rout in the final minute.

The goal gala moves Bremen up to 45 goals in 16 league games, 17 more than next-highest scorers Stuttgart.

"I really have to compliment my players on a top-class performance," said coach Thomas Schaaf whose side has now scored six goals away from home for the third time this season.

"I think we're the best side in Germany at the moment," said Werder sports director Klaus Allofs.

Frankfurt coach Friedhelm Funkel admitted his side was second best from thje start.

"We lost today to a very good side. Bremen are simply better than we are. My team made too many mistakes," he said.

Bayern Munich, meanwhile, earned a 2-1 win over Energie Cottbus courtesy of goals from Bastian Schweinsteiger and Daniel van Buyten.

Schweinsteiger netted with a long-range effort three minutes before half-time before Cottbus drew level seven minutes after the break when Steffen Baumgartner found himself unmarked to head home.

Bayern immediately struck back, with central defender van Buyten heading in a Schweinsteiger free-kick two minutes later.

Coach Felix Magath, whose side had dropped two points in a 1-1 draw with Moenchengladbach at home last, was grateful for the win.

"Again we had a lot of problems finding any answer against a defensive opponent," he said.

VfB Stuttgart kept their title hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Bochum, thanks to a scrambled goal three minutes from time by substitute Marco Streller.

At the bottom of the table, struggling SV Hamburg were held to a goalless draw at home by Nuremberg to leave Thomas Doll's side still without a home win this season. For Nuremberg, it was the 11th draw in 16 league games.

Borussia Moenchengladbach were held to a 1-1 draw by bottom club Mainz who grabbed a point with a goal a minute from time from Ranisav Jonanovic after Christian Demirtas had put through his own goal in the 17th minute.

Moenchengladbach have now gone nine matches without a win while Mainz have not won for 15 games.

Hanover and Arminia Bielefeld shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw in which Marcel Djeng rifled in an opening goal for the visitors in the 67th minute only for Thomas Bdraric to equalize from close range a minute later.

On Friday, Bayer Leverkusen enjoyed a 2-1 victory over fifth-placed Hertha Berlin. In the second of Sunday's two games, Wolfsburg entertain Alemannia Aachen.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency