Davie Selke's deflection from Assani Lukimya's header proved the difference between Bremen and Frankfurt in the race for the Europa League places. Kevin Trapp had kept his side in the game, but was powerless to keep out Selke's strike.
Bremen were aiming to bounce back from their disappointing 2-2 draw with SC Paderborn last weekend, as they lost ground in the race for Europe. Viktor Skripnik made two changes to that side, as Izet Hajrovic and Janek Sternberg came in for Levin Öztunali (bench) and Alejandro Galvez (knee).
Marco Russ, Anderson Bamba, Bastian Oczipka and Marc Stendera replaced Alexander Madlung (suspended), Carlos Zambrano, Timothy Chandler (benched) and Lucas Piazon (not in the squad).
Koen Casteels and Sebastian Prödl were handed an early reprieve after a defensive mix up. The Belgian stopper charged out to clear away a through ball, but his header crashed in his captain and he too made a mess of the clearance. Casteels did, however, sprint back into position to make a quite fantastic block.
Frankfurt were dealt an early blow and Sonny Kittel went down injured mid-way through the half. He initially received treatment and came back onto the field, but had to be replaced by Takashi Inui. The promising youngster will be hopefully it isn't a return to the injuries that had plagued him before this season.
Bremen almost went ahead at the other end. Sternberg's pin-point back-post cross found Franco di Santo, though the Argentine's header went mere inches over the bar. Kevin Trapp made a fantastic save from Theodor Gebre Selassie's improvised effort.
Chances continued to rain down at the Weserstadion and both sides continued to plough forward in search of that elusive opening goal. Casteels and Trapp were extremely busy and regularly had to make some difficult saves, as neither side were able to find a way through before the break.
Trapp's performance was becoming ever-more impressive. The highly sought-after stopper made a fantastic double save in the minutes following the second-half, before tipping Prödl's looping header onto the crossbar.
The game didn't seem to be slowing down whatsoever, which was quite remarkable given the tempo it was played at. For all the effort Trapp had put in, it took a deflection for Werder Bremen to open the scoring. Zlatko Junuzovic's free-kick was flicked on at the near post and Davie Selke, who was caught cold, managed to flick the ball goalwards and past Trapp.
Selke almost added a second, but for Trapp to push his effort onto the bar. The rebound fell kindly to di Santo, but he somehow volleyed wide from just six yards out. Bremen now move seventh after Dortmund and Hoffenheim's draw, while Frankfurt look to be out of the running for the final Europa League place.