Stefan Aigner's first goal of the season was enough to seal a 2-1 win for Eintracht Frankfurt over Werder Bremen, despite falling behind to Claudio Pizarro's opener.
High-tempo first-half
It was an electric start to the game at the Commerzbank Arena, with both sides flying out of the traps early on. Haris Seferovic had a powerful volley held at the second time of asking by Felix Wiedwald, while Stefan Aigner shot just past the post moments later. Levin Öztunali's double chance, which saw Lukas Hradecky make an impressive save, was the closest Bremen came to opening the scoring.
With the early attacking play came a need to break up any potential counter attacks, something which both sides saw bookings brandished for in the early exchanges. Vaclav Kadlec and Clemens Fritz both picked up yellow cards from Wolfgang Stark, who was aiming to keep a lid on a feisty affair. When Claudio Pizarro and Bremen managed to evade the tackles and back-line, like Aigner only minutes later, a finish could not be found.
Pizarro had an even better chance midway through the half, as the Peruvian escaped in behind the Frankfurt defence. He saw his shot well-saved by Hradecky, though he would not be denied for long. Just a few minutes later the veteran forward was on hand to finally get his goal. A wonderful finish from the edge of the area followed from Janek Sternberg's pass, giving Bremen a deserved lead.
That would last less than two minutes, however, with Frankfurt leveling immediately. Alexander Meier grabbed his second goal in as many weeks with a fine header, rising above Jannik Vestergaard to put the ball back past Wiedwald. Aleksandar Ignjovski's cross was inch perfect for the experienced attacker, who made no mistake from six yards out. That proved to be the last action of note in the first-half, with the sides level at the break.
Tense to the final whistle
It didn't take long before Frankfurt would go ahead for the first time, as Aigner got a deserved goal of his own. A determined run and cross from Seferovic saw his team-mate get free in the area, and loop the ball underneath the bar to turn the game on its head. Viktor Skripnik was, understandably, fuming with his team for conceding an early goal.
It could have been even worse for the visitors had Seferovic taken a chance of his own. The Swiss striker beat the offside trap and went one-on-one with Wiedwald, but the Bremen stopper did excellently to deny him and Seferovic put the rebound over the bar. That goal seemed to shock Bremen, who found it hard to get going in the aftermath.
It took until the 70th minute for another chance of note to crop up. Ulisses Garcia had only just came on but was handed a great chance to equalise, only to have hs shot saved by Hradecky. Bastian Oczipka almost put the game beyond doubt at the other end, although his effort was screwed just wide of the post. The remainder of the game was filled with fouls and yellow cards, not that Frankfurt were bothered as they strolled to another important win.