It was a tight and tense match from the start lacking footballing brilliance but entertaining due to the spirit of both opponents. Eintracht started without a change compared to last week’s win against Wolfsburg, actually three times in a row they started with the same line up now. Bremen’s current crisis (two defeats in a row including a 0-6 away to Stuttgart) did not show and the Eagles had to give their all to overcome this difficult task without damage.
The first 20 minutes Bremen dominated with a number of chances (Marin, Proedl and Wagner) - it was once again Eintracht keeper Oka Nikolov who kept his team in the game. The Eagles tried it mainly with long balls towards their in form striker Theofanis Gekas who had a couple of chances which he normally would score from (22’ and 30’).
Germany international and former Eintracht youth player Marco Marin always seemed a threat but his chances for Bremen did not find their target either, consequently it was goalless at half time.
Bremen’s dominance continued after the half time break up until the 60th minute with further opportunities by Frings and Marin, Eintracht seemed to wait for their chance from possible counter attacks. But with a solid performance in defense mainly by Marco Russ but also Alex Vasoksi (who came on for Maik Franz in the second half), Giorgos Tzavellas and Sebastian Jung the Eagles more and more gained confidence and showed after a while how their recent success comes together – from passionate team play and fluent passing. It was again Gekas who had his chances but unlike in recent games he did not manage to score this time.
Eintracht continue their unbeaten run thanks to a solid team performance and thanks to keeper Nikolov. He saved all seven on target shots of Werder, his overall 80% saves to shot ratio is top in Bundesliga. And no other Bundesliga goalie currently tops his five clean sheets - games without conceding a goal.
Up next is the home game against 1899 Hoffenheim (coming Saturday, 15.30h CET) who have a game in hand and currently are one spot behind Frankfurt (ranked 4th) in the league table. It is 17 years ago that Eintracht had a better start to a Bundesliga season after the opening 12 games, back then they were top of the league with 29 points (currently 20).
