Oezil goal hands Bremen German Cup silverware

Werder Bremen won the German Cup on Saturday, a a second-half goal from midfielder Mesut Oezil sealing a 1-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.

Bremen’s Brazilian midfielder Diego, in his last appearance in Germany before his move to Juventus, signed off by creating the winning goal for Oezil after 58 minutes.

The 24-year-old Diego, who has signed a five-year deal worth 24.5 million euros to move to Italy, beat three defenders and slid a pass into the path of Oezil who fired home past Leverkusen goalkeeper Rene Adler to give Bremen the winner.

Leverkusen had their chance to equalise when, with just four minutes of normal time remaining, Germany striker Stefan Kiessling fired wide for Bayer as their attack failed to beat Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese.

Both Bremen and Leverkusen under-achieved last season, finishing mid-table in the Bundesliga, but after Werder lost last week’s UEFA Cup final to Shakhtar Donetsk in Istanbul, Bremen have finally won some silverware this season.

Leverkusen had Germany strikers Patrick Helmes and Kiessling up front while Diego lead the Bremen attack in style playing behind Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida and ex-Chelsea forward Claudio Pizarro, who both had good chances to score.

Bremen have now won the trophy six times and only Bayern Munich have a better record having lifted the competition 14 times.