Europa League
October 23, 2009
The clash of the Bundesliga's top teams over the weekend ended in a scoreless draw for Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg, but Hamburg were able to gain a slight advantage in their group standings for the Europa League.
Hamburg were on the road against Celtic FC, and although both sides had narrow misses in the first half, it wasn't until the 63rd minute that Hamburg's Marcus Berg scored the game's only goal, giving Hamburg the 1-0 win.
The three points put Hamburg just barely on top of the group, tied with Hapoel Tel-Aviv on six points but ahead on head-to-head record. Celtic are at the bottom of the group with one point.
Three points slip away from Bremen
Coming into Thursday's match, Austria Vienna hadn't lost a game at home since November 2008. And for most of the game against Werder Bremen, it looked like Vienna's luck had run out.
Bremen struck first in the 19th minute after Claudio Pizarro headed in a free kick from Mesut Oezil. It was Pizarro again who took advantage of a Vienna defensive error in the 63rd minute to put Bremen comfortably in the lead 2-0.
But Vienna wasn't finished. Emin Sulimani booted a loose ball past Bremen keeper Tim Wiese ten minutes later. The equlizer came in the 87th minute, as Sulimani crossed into the middle and found Brazilian striker Schumacher, coming off the bench, who headed it in to make it 2-2.
The single point from the draw puts Werder Bremen on top of its group with seven points. Athletic Bilbao trails in second with six, while Vienna is in third with two.
Berlin Blues
The troubles continued for Hertha Berlin on Thursday, currently the worst team in the Bundesliga. Despite the home field advantage, Hertha suffered a 1-0 loss to SC Heerenveen. The Dutch side scored in the 36th minute on a low strike from midfielder Hernan Losada.
Hertha remain in last place in their group with a single point. The group leaders Sporting Lisbon have been perfect so far in group play, winning all three matches to lead the group with 9 points. Heerenveen are in second with four points.
mz/dpa/sid
Editor: Vanessa Johnston