Braga made to pay the penalty

Werder Bremen 3-0 Sporting Braga

Braga were pasted 3-0 in the first leg of their last-32 Uefa Cup encounter against Werder Bremen. Manuel Machado’s side will rue two missed penalties which, if converted, could have kept them well in contention in the tie.

But goals from Naldo, Jensen and Hugo Almeida left the Portuguese team with a mountain to climb in the return leg if they want to advance.

Braga got off to the worst possible start as the Portuguese outfit went a goal down in the 4th minute when Naldo converted a Diego free kick, helped on by Jensen, which flew past Paulo Santos.

The Arsenalistas had a great opportunity to get on level terms seven minutes later when Fritz fouled Roland Linz in the box. The Austrian striker stepped up to convert the spot kick, but Wise guessed correctly and made a save with his right arm to maintain Bremen’s lead.

Bremen were unfortunate not to be up by two goals in the 16th minute when Mertesacker’s header bounced back off the post. The home side did go two up in the 26th minute however, when Hugo Almeida’s cross was redirected by Fritz and an unmarked Jensen easily slotted the ball into the back of the net.

Second penalty save

Braga were then awarded another penalty in the 35th minute when Matheus was brought down by two Bremen defenders. This time Jorginho stepped up to take it, but again Wiese stopped the shot to preserve Bremen’s two-goal lead.

Bremen had a marvellous opportunity to go three up shortly after the restart as Hugo Almeida was left unmarked but the Portuguese international’s effort flew wide. Then the two strikers combined once again in the 78th minute. Almeida’s initial effort was stopped by Paulo Santos, and from the rebound the Portuguese goalkeeper was sharp to stymie Rosenberg.

Just when it seemed Braga would escape with a two-goal deficit to keep their hopes alive of turning things around in the second leg, Bremen were awarded a penalty of their own in added time. Hugo Almeida showed the Arsenalistas how it was done when he coolly sent his effort right down the middle to end the evening’s entertainment at 3-0.

Braga’s heavy loss can only be blamed on themselves as they were awarded two penalties and failed to convert even one of them, while Bremen picked off their visitors with relative ease. The tie is pretty much decided with the Portuguese side hopefully having learned some valuable lessons in the defeat.

Werder Bremen:
Wiese, Fritz, Mertesacker, Naldo, Owomoyela, Baumann, Jensen, Hunt (Borowski, 59), Diego (Ozil, 74), Rosenberg, Almeida
Yellow Cards: Frtiz (10), Wiese (35)

Sporting Braga:
Paulo Santos, Joao Pereira, Paulo Jorge, Rodriguez, Carlos Fernandes, Frechaut, Contreras (Stelvio, 62), Vandinho, Jorginho (Jailson, 78), Roland Linz, Mathues (Wender, 68)
Yellow Cards: Contreras (42), Paulo Jorge (78), Stelvio (82)

Goals:
[1-0] Naldo, 4
[2-0] Jensen, 26
[3-0] Hugo Almeida, 95 (pen)