12 February 2006, by Sean Gillen

Stuttgart hammer Bremen as Meira escapes serious injury

Stuttgart 4-1 Werder Bremen

Fernando Meira was carried off with what initially appeared to be a serious injury as Stuttgart recorded an emphatic 4-1 victory over title chasers Werder Bremen at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion.

The Portuguese defender was substituted in the 52nd minute as goals from Roberto Hilbert, Mario Gomez, Ludovic Magnin and Marco Streller saw the Weiß-Roten consign Bremen to their second loss in a week and seriously dent their title hopes.

Feeling that Bremen may still be vulnerable after a damaging home defeat to leaders Schalke last weekend, the hosts wasted no time in attacking their opponents, and took a third-minute lead when left-back Magnin found space for a cross, and his accurate delivery was finished by Hilbert.

Gomez came close to doubling Stuttgart’s advantage shortly afterwards when he exchanged passes with Antonio da Silva and found himself through on goal, but the newly-capped German front man’s finish was badly off target.

Bremen did not heed the warning, and Gomez made it two on 15 minutes after more excellent football from the home side. Hilbert’s raid down the right resulted in a cut-back to Cacau, and the Brazilian produced a deft touch to play in Gomez, who made no mistake this time in dispatching his shot past Wiese.

Inspirational Diego

The visitors hit back just five minutes later through inspirational midfielder Diego. A long ball down the right channel found Tim Borowski, whose hooked cross towards Miroslav Klose led to a goalmouth scramble, and former Porto man Diego arrived to smash home and half the deficit.

It appeared that Bremen had fought their way back into the game, but they were stunned shortly after the half-hour mark when Magnin restored the two-goal margin. The adventurous left-back cut in on his right foot and fired a low shot across goal and into the far corner.

Werder tried to pull another goal back before the break and Thorsten Frings’ cross was flicked towards goal by Aaron Hunt in first-half injury time, but Hildebrand made a comfortable save to see his side through to the interval.

The second period was only five minutes old when Stuttgart captain Meira went down following a tangle with Hunt and appeared to be in some distress. He was immediately strapped up and carried off to loud applause from the home fans, but scans have since shown that Meira has escaped serious damage, suffering extensive bruising of the muscle.

The hosts struggled to cope without their skipper, and Bremen put them under pressure for the majority of the half. Naldo and Rosenberg both missed good headed opportunities and top scorer Klose lashed wide after good work from Hunt as Thomas Schaaf’s men created several chances.

Borowski was denied by the post and Hildebrand made a superb reaction save to deny the German midfielder, before Bremen brought Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida on for the closing 15 minutes in the hope of a late comeback.

However, Stuttgart wrapped up the points with a fourth on the counter. Hitzlsperger fed Gomez down the left channel and his centre eventually found its way to Streller, who scored at the second attempt to cap a convincing team performance, only tainted briefly by Meira’s injury.

Stuttgart:
Hildebrand, Magnin, Meira (Khedira, 52), Tasci, Pardo, Delpierre, Hilbert, Hitzlsperger, da Silva (Gentner, 79), Cacau (Streller, 74), Gomez
Yellow Cards: Cacau (25), Gomez (78), Magnin (79)

Werder Bremen:
Wiese, Naldo, Mertesacker, Wome, Fritz (Rosenberg, 61), Diego, Jensen (Vranjes, 30), Frings, Borowski, Klose, Hunt (Almeida, 77)
Yellow Cards: Frings (18), Naldo (65), Wome (66)

Goals:
[1-0] Hilbert, 3
[2-0] Gomez, 17
[2-1] Diego, 22
[3-1] Magnin, 34
[4-1] Streller, 86