FC Twente kept in the running for the last 16 of the Champions League by beating Werder Bremen 2-0.
Chadli the hero again for Dutch champions
FC Twente kept their name in the running for the last 16 of the Champions League by taking advantage of 10-man Werder Bremen to win 2-0.
Man-of-the-moment Nacer Chadli added to his growing reputation by scoring the opener with nine minutes left, just days after scoring the winner in the Eredivisie against PSV Eindhoven which sent Twente top of the table.
Luuk de Jong got the second four minutes later with a header, but the game effectively changed after the dismissal of Werder skipper Torsten Frings with 15 minutes remaining.
Bremen had the majority of the chances throughout, but could not find a way past inspired former Liverpool goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov, who made a series of good stops early in the second half.
Both teams went into the game with a draw of no use to either of them to challenge group leaders Tottenham and Inter in their final two games of the stage.
The first chance of the evening came from the home side, with full-back Wesley bursting up-field, but woefully wasting his attempt with a slice well wide.
But Twente came closest to breaking the deadlock in the 13th minute when striker De Jong made good contact with a header that was just too close to Sebastian Mielitz.
Wesley then made an excellent challenge as he played Marc Janko onside to allow the striker to run clean through, but the Brazilian did well to recover.
Much of the play was lying with Bremen, but by far the better chances were falling to the Dutch champions, with Janko and Bryan Ruiz both wasting opportunities to run clean through on goal with poor first touches.
Claudio Pizarro then almost took advantage of a deflected strike from Hugo Almeida inside the box, but could only help the ball over the bar.
Both the game and the crowd were struggling to get going, with both teams lacking the quality needed to create a significant chance in the final third in the first half.
German starlet Marko Marin was causing the most problems for the visitors, getting around the defence to put in a great cross but it just went over the head of Pizarro.
But an even better chance was to come just seconds later as Pizarro was put through by Hunt, his shot crashed off the post and fell to Almeida, but as he was about to put the ball into the empty net he overstretched and slipped over.
Pulsating
Ruiz then broke straight down to the other end to drive a shot from close range to sting the fingertips of Mielitz in a pulsating end to the first period.
Roberto Rosales should have put the Dutch side ahead as he found himself completely unmarked from a deep free-kick that pulled the defence to the wrong side of the goal, but his header was poor into the ground and let the Germans off the hook.
Twente grabbed the first chance of the second period, with Denny Landzaat firing over from outside the box after being fed by Ruiz.
And just two minutes later Chadli had a great chance with a scissor kick from close range after De Jong's flick-on, but he was denied by Mielitz.
The play then immediately moved up to the other end with the energetic Wesley firing in from the edge of the box to be denied by a smart save from the solid Mihaylov.
Mihaylov was then called into action again by making a stop from Almeida's close-range header from Jensen's deep free-kick.
And the Bulgarian was again outstanding as Almeida looked to take it round him, but he read the Portuguese striker's movement and pounced on the ball as he was about to fire home.
Chadli then had another chance minutes later in a frantic spell, taking it round Mielitz but only managing to hit the post from an acute angle.
Bremen were beginning to become the better side, with Marin hitting a good strike from the edge of the box, only to see Franco Douglas deflect the ball over the top.
Dismissal
But the game took a turn for the worse for the home side as Frings was judged to have been the last man as he tugged back Ruiz following a neat flick with the back of his boot to race through on goal.
From the resulting free-kick, Ruiz smartly picked out Peter Wisgerhof with a great change to shoot unmarked from eight yards out, but he completely skewed his shot and the chance was gone.
But Twente finally took advantage of the extra man with a break forward to stun the home side, with Chadli fed on the left-hand side to run at a tired, static looking Bremen backline and his shot deflected off Per Mertesacker and looped over the diving Mielitz.
And the visitors made the game safe with just over five minutes of normal time remaining, with De Jong heading home from Ruiz's cross after a brilliant flick from man-of-the-moment Chadli.
It was nearly three in stoppage-time as Ruiz bust into the box to hit the ball just over the bar in what would have been an undeserved result for the home side, leaving them an absolute mountain to climb to have any chance of qualifying.
For the visitors, however, the real challenge has now begun as they need results against both Spurs and holders Inter to have any realistic chance of qualifying.
| SV Werder Bremen |
Team Statistics |
FC Twente |
| 0 |
Goals |
2 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 9 |
Shots on Target |
7 |
| 9 |
Shots off Target |
7 |
| 4 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 9 |
Corners |
4 |
| 15 |
Fouls |
19 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 1 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 77.8 |
Passing Success |
70.8 |
| 23 |
Tackles |
18 |
| 73.9 |
Tackles Success |
88.9 |
| 56.4 |
Possession |
43.6 |
| 59.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
40.1 |
|
