Bundesliga wrap: Bremen start revival, Santos saves Wolfsburg

A late red card to Hugo Almeida soured Werder Bremen’s 3-0 victory over St. Pauli on Sunday, while Wolfsburg escaped with a draw at Cologne.

Almeida was at his best, and worst, during the Bundesliga clash, firing an inspirational hat-trick to give his side their first win in eight matches in all competitions.

But he was sent off in the 80th minute for an elbow to Carlos Zambrano, while St. Pauli’s Markus Thorandt also saw red in the 90th minute.

Almeida’s first goal came within the opening minute of the match, before another in the 20th minute gave his side a 2-0 buffer at the break.

Said Husejinovic set up the Portuguese international for his hat-trick in the 64th minute, only for the 26-year-old to be sent off 16 minutes later.

“I had been fouled a lot during the whole game and I just lost my nerve. But that cannot happen and I apologise to the club and my team-mates,” Almeida said afterwards.

In the day’s other match, Cicero Santos’ 81st minute equaliser handed Wolfsburg a late point against Cologne.

Milivoje Novakovic’s 51st minute strike handed the relegation-threatened Cologne the lead, and they seemed set for a win that would lift them out of the bottom three until Santos’ late intervention.