Werder Bremen battled back from two goals down against Anorthosis Famagusta to claim a 2-2 draw in Cyprus.
Cypriots blow two-goal lead against Bundesliga outfit
Werder Bremen battled back from two goals down against Anorthosis Famagusta in UEFA Champions League Group B.
The 2-2 draw means the Cypriot outfit remain in with a chance of progressing to the last 16 of the competition if they can beat Panathinaikos in their final group match.
The Cypriots had the first chance of the match, although the back-peddling Bremen keeper Christian Vander was barely troubled by Vincent Laban's ambitious volley from all of 35 yards out.
Werder were not on the back foot for long and with Diego pulling the strings in midfield the visitors kept Anorthosis Famagusta's backline on their toes.
Diego was at the heart of everything for the Germans, but after developing space for himself outside the penalty area his right-footed blast was straight at Famagusta keeper Zoltan Nagy.
Little contact
The home fans wanted a penalty when Vander clattered into captain Nikos Katsabakis from an inswinging left-wing corner, but the referee waived away their appeals despite appearing to make little contact with the ball.
Former Chelsea striker Claudio Pizarro had the final chance of the half, but he failed to do anything with Frank Baumann's right-wing cross other than pick out Nagy with a tame header.
Werder continued to probe after the interval, although Diego's free-kick failed to trouble anyone while Pizarro made a complete hash of a simple near-post header.
Against the run of play and out of the blue the home side took the lead, leaving Werder scratching their heads just after the hour mark.
Bortolini Savio's corner was not dealt with by the visitors and half-time substitute Nicos Nicolaou ghosted in at the far post and slotted a half-volley inside Vander's near post.
Doubled their advantage
With Werder still reeling the home side doubled their advantage when Savio tapped home at the back post after Vander made a sensational point-blank save to deny Laban.
Just when it looked like Werder were dead and buried they got a foot back in the game when playmaker Diego smashed home from 12 yards out after Aaron Hunt was brought down just inside the penalty area.
With just three minutes left on the clock Famagusta's hopes of a sensational victory were dashed when Almeida smashed home a left-footed effort from Hunt's neat flick on.
Werder could and should have gone one better but Almeida missed the chance to put himself into hero status with the club's fans when he saw his effort saved in a one-on-one situation with Nagy.
| Anorthosis Famagusta |
Team Statistics |
Werder Bremen |
| 2 |
Goals |
2 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
7 |
| 4 |
Shots off Target |
11 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
10 |
| 5 |
Corners |
7 |
| 16 |
Fouls |
19 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
4 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 60 |
Passing Success |
89.2 |
| 17 |
Tackles |
11 |
| 82.4 |
Tackles Success |
72.7 |
| 29.3 |
Possession |
70.7 |
| 37.3 |
Territorial Advantage |
62.7 |
|
