UEFA Champions League: Werder Bremen v Tottenham Hotspur – Spurs 2-1 up at Half Time
Tottenham Boss Harry Redknapp made four changes from the team that drew 1-1 with West Brom at the weekend. In came Ledley King for William Gallas at the heart of defence, while Benoit Assou-Ekotto returned at left-back with Gareth Bale set to move up the flank. Jermaine Jenas took over from Wilson Palacios in centre midfield while Luka Modric, who suffered a leg injury at The Hawthorns, had not been risked so Rafael van der Vaart was likely to play off striker Peter Crouch, with Roman Pavlyuchenko dropping to the bench. Bremen had made one change from the team that drew 0-0 with Bayern Munich on Saturday. Forward Aaron Hunt dropped to the bench with Portugal international Hugo Almeida returning to the starting XI alongside former Arsenal defender Mikael Silvestre.
There was a cracking atmosphere at the Weserstadion in Bremen, which for the most part was a sea of green and white scarves. This was a decent introduction to proper Champions League football for Spurs, and it would be one heck of a result if they come away with the points tonight.
The visitors got the game underway; Tottenham played a bit of keep-ball to settle their nerves, before Aaron Lennon sprinted past Mikael Silvestre down the right and sent over a cross that was eventually thumped wide by Tom Huddlestone.
Soon the home side got into the act; it was danger-man Marko Marin who got on the ball for the first time for Bremen, but his attempted through-ball towards Hugo Almeida was easily cut out.
Just after 5 minutes there was a corner for Bremen. It was only cleared as far as Marko Marin, who whipped in an in-swinging cross from the left of the area, though it flew straight through to Carlo Cudicini.
With Vedran Corluka backing off him on the edge of the area, Wesley had a pop at goal, and saw his shot zip a few inches wide.
The English rookie side in the Champions League then got the best possible start. There is nothing like an early goal to settle the nerves. It was Gareth Bale who escaped Torsten Frings down the left and his low cross was heading towards Peter Crouch before Werder's Finnish international Petri Pasanen slid in at the near post to divert it into his own net.
It was heartbreak for the home side, but pure delight for Spurs. Werder looked absolutely dejected from the goal. Their concentration levels dropped and they were made to pay again quickly. Rafael van der Vaart crossed from the left and Peter Crouch escaped Petri Pasanen to head home their second of the night. Spurs, who were a bit nervy before the match, were in dreamland. Harry Redknapp who normally does not show much emotion could be seen jumping on the touchline.
The home side tried hard to bounce back however. Vedran Corluka lost the ball and Marko Arnautovic bent in a cross from the right which Ledley King had to head behind.
Gareth Bale, who has been in sparkling form recently, was in his element throughout the half. He took Clemens Fritz to the cleaners every time he got the ball on the left. Bale went for goal himself after sprinting into space and forced Tim Wiese into a sprawling save. Bremen only just cleared the loose ball before Rafael van der Vaart could reach it inside the area.
Just before the break the home side cut the lead to half. Wesley hoisted over a useful cross from the left and Hugo Almeida got between Ledley King and Benoit Assou-Ekotto to flick home a header. Carlo Cudicini stayed on his line but probably couldn’t have done much about it anyway. The first half ended at 2-1 in favour of Spurs.
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