Bundesliga: Werder Bremen wins fourth straight, 2-1 over Leverkusen
BERLIN (AP) -- Werder Bremen defeated Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 on Sunday to climb to eighth in the Bundesliga after its fourth consecutive victory, having been in last place when the winning run started in December.
"Of course our situation in the table looks good now," Bremen coach Viktor Skripnik said.
Bremen striker Davie Selke completed a brilliant team move by volleying Fin Bartels' cross from the right past Bernd Leno in the 18th minute.
Leno pulled off a great save to deny Theodor Gebre Selassie shortly afterward, but there was nothing he could do to stop Zlatko Junuzovic's perfect free kick flying inside the top corner in the 29th.
The visitors' consolation came in the 43rd, with Hakan Calhanoglu marking his 21st birthday by scoring from a rebound after Gonzalo Castro hit the post and then Wendell's follow up was saved.
"We created a couple of chances but that's not enough to win the game," said Leverkusen midfielder Son Heung-min, back after losing the Asia Cup final with South Korea.
The second half descended into a scrappy affair with few chances. Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt was sent to the stands midway through for protesting too much.
High-flying Augsburg missed the chance to go third later Sunday after slipping to its first draw of the season, 2-2 against visiting Eintracht Frankfurt.
Ragnar Klavan fired the home side ahead in the seventh and Raul Bobadilla made it 2-0 in the 37th, only for Stefan Aigner to pull one back in first-half injury time and Alexander Meier to equalize with his league-leading 14th goal of the season in the 70th.
"When you're winning 2-0 and you end up drawing the game it's disappointing," Augsburg general manager Stefan Reuter said. "It's annoying because we had a great chance to win."
Augsburg is fourth, behind third-place Schalke only on goal difference, in what is the modest Bavarian club's best season.
