Max Kruse 4, Ingolstadt 2

Of all the Bundesliga games on Match Day 30, this is the one I would like to have seen, but Fox Sports didn’t televise it. Werder Bremen has been on a tear since the winter break. They have earned 26 points in the Bundesliga standings. That ties them with Borussia Dortmund, and Bayern Munich is the only team that has done better [28 points]. But Bayern has had a week from Hell. Real Madrid bounced them out of the UEFA Champions League [and losing all-world goalie Manuel Neuer for the rest of the season with a broken foot in the process], and they managed only a 2-2 draw with Mainz at home at the Allianz Arena.

At present, Dortmund and Bremen are playing the best football in the Bundesliga. Bremen have gone unbeaten in their last ten games. Their run is all the more remarkable in that they started very poorly this season [4-9-4], got their coach fired, and finished the first half of the season in 15th place. They now sit in sixth place, with a chance to participate in the Europa league next season if the present trend continues. At this time last season, Bremen were fighting relegation to the second division. A win in the final week kept them away from having to compete in a relegation playoff. Which brings us to today…

Ingolstadt came into today’s match needing a win. They are just seven points ahead of last-place Darmstadt [who won again today…go figure] and are bound for relegation to the Bundesliga second division at season’s end. Paraguayan forward Dario Lezcano got the scoring started in the 32nd minute with his fifth goal of the season. Ingolstadt maintained their slim lead until Bremen’s Max Kruse converted a penalty kick for the equalizer just before halftime. Ingolstadt regained the lead when midfielder Pascal Gross converted his own penalty kick in the 62nd minute. Then Max Kruse went to work. With eight minutes left before stoppage time, Kruse scored his second goal, followed five minutes later by his third, which put Bremen ahead 3-2. Four minutes into stoppage time, Kruse tallied his fourth goal of the match [?!?] to seal Bremen’s victory.