Piotr Trochowski scored in the first half to give Hamburger SV a 1-0 win at Werder Bremen in the first leg of their all-German UEFA Cup semifinal yesterday.
Guy Demel provided the cross from the right flank and Trochowski's header sailed over Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese's outstretched arms inside the far post after 28 minutes.
"I've never seen him score with his head," Hamburg coach Martin Jol said of his short midfielder.
The win put Hamburg close to its first final in a European competition since it won the 1983 Champions Cup.
In the other semifinal, Shakhtar Donetsk drew 1-1 at Dynamo Kiev in an all-Ukrainian first leg.
The second legs are next week.
The final is on May 20 at Istanbul.
"We took the first step but we are not yet in Istanbul," Jol said. "We did our job well, but we should have won by a bigger margin."
English referee Howard Webb had to interrupt the match briefly early in the second half after Hamburg fans lit flares and smoke drifted onto the field.
Wiese, who stopped three penalties when Werder eliminated Hamburg in the semifinals of the German Cup last week, had several good saves again, especially when he denied Ivica Olic early.
The goalkeeper also turned away striker Paolo Guerrero's low shot in the 22nd.
On the other side, Frank Rost was also busy early in Hamburg's goal, foiling Diego for what was Bremen's best chance.
"You have to play well over both legs," Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf said.
Captain Torsten Frings said Werder made "stupid mistakes."
"We didn't use our chances, but everything is still possible for us in the second leg," Frings said.
After Bremen's early pressure, Hamburg controlled the game and had several chances that went unused.
Bremen also had the upper hand early in the second half and Hugo Almeida nearly beat Rost with a header.
Defender Sebastian Boenisch narrowly missed in the 59th and Almeida missed with another header before he was replaced by Markus Rosenberg.
Guerrero got his second booking then and will miss the return leg.
With Bremen applying the pressure, Hamburg used fast counterattacks to respond and Olic wasted the best chance for his team when he tried to chip the ball past Wiese from point-blank but Werder's goalie turned the ball away with his chest.
Olic also created, passing the ball from the right flank to Jonathan Pitroipa, but the striker put the ball wide.
Rosenberg shot high after a Bremen corner and the home side could not find the way to Hamburg's net.
In the German Cup last week, Bremen won on penalties in Hamburg.
(Shanghai Daily via Agencies?May 1, 2009)
