Werder Bremen fightback denies Stuttgart

(GSM) – A late flurry of goals by Hugo Almeida and Torsten Frings brought Werder Bremen from behind to earn a 2-2 draw with Stuttgart on Saturday at the Weserstadion.

Stuttgart went in front in the 15th minute when Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak took a threaded pass from Aleksandr Hleb before slotting home beyond goalkeeper Tim Wiese.

It was then 2-0 – to the dismay of the home supporters – just before half-time as Sami Khedira headed home a cross from Timo Gebhart to put Stuttgart firmly in control.

Matters changed in the second half, however, and Bremen pulled a goal back with 15 minutes to play as Almeida connected with a nice strike inside the post of Jens Lehmann.

Then, in the 81st minute, Bremen won a penalty when Marko Marin went down in the area. Frings stepped up to the spot and converted past Lehmann to salvage a point for the home side.

Bremen sit fifth on 39 points when Stuttgart are four points back in seventh place.