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Claudio Pizarro of Bremen holds the trophy as the team celebrates their victory after the DFB Cup Final match between Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen at the Olympic stadium on May 30, 2009 in Berlin, Germany. |
German football powerhouse Werder Bremen made up at the last for a disappointing league campaign and defeat in the UEFA Cup final, beating Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 in Berlin to lift the German Cup on Saturday night.
Midfielder Mesut Oezil scored the only goal of the game in the 58th minute to earn the Green-Whites the trophy for the sixth time and ensure them a place in next season's inaugural Europa League.
Werder started the stronger of the two sides in the Olympic Stadium and went on to dominate much of the first half.
Ten days after losing out to Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Cup and a week on from the 5-1 thumping that earned Wolfsburg the league title, Thomas Schaaf's men were right back on song, driven forward by playmaker Diego in his final competitive appearance for the club before moving to Juventus.
In the sixth minute, central defender Sebastian Proedl connected powerfully with a Diego cross, pulling a good save out of Leverkusen keeper Rene Adler. Seven minutes later Adler was in action again, scrambling to clear a wayward cross from Torsten Frings.
Bayer struggled to create chances of their own in the early stages. Their first of note came in the 22nd minute, when Patrick Helmes was put in well from the right, but failed to hit the target unmarked inside the box.
Leverkusen's midfield started to get more of a grip on proceedings after the interval, but chances for them remained at a premium.
In the 54th minute, Werder keeper Tim Wiese had to deal with a ferocious long-range effort from Tranquillo Barnetta. Werder's response was not long in coming. Diego freed up Oezil and the 20-year-old midfielder rifled his team in front from a tight angle.
Having gone behind, Bayer finally started to show glimpses of their attacking potential. In the 63rd minute Helmes just failed to connect with a low Michal Kadlec cross from the left.
Almeida forced another good save out of Adler in a 70th-minute breakaway, while four minutes later Arturo Vidal set up Kadlec for an effort that crept just wide of the post.
Leverkusen battled to the end, with Stefan Kiessling going close on a couple of occasions as the clock ran down, but were left to regret an overly-passive performance for the first two-thirds of the match.
(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2009)
