Frankfurt, Jan 25 (IANS) Alexander Meier’s hat-trick clinched a 3-2 comeback win for Frankfurt against VFL Wolfsburg while clinical Werder Bremen punished a wasteful Schalke 3-1 to conclude the 18th round in Bundesliga.
Worfsburg started with a setback into the second half of the season as Dieter Hecking’s men gave away a narrow lead to lose 3-2 owing to Alexander Meier’s triple strike on Sunday, reports Xinhua.
Frankfurt staged a weak performance in the first half allowing Wolfsburg to grab the lead with 25 minutes played as Dante tapped in Ricardo Rodriguez’ free kick at the far post.
Wolfsburg continued to create opportunities but they lacked in accuracy to extend their lead against uninspired hosts. However, things changed after the restart as Frankfurt equalised the scores in the 66th minute as Alexander Meier slotted home Stefan Aigner’s header from 11 meters with a shot.
Frankfurt gained momentum and turned the tides seven minutes later after Meier unleashed an unstoppable hammer from 16 meters to make it 2-1 on the scoreboards.
Worfsburg got back into the game thanks to Andre Schuerrle, who made use of Sebastian Jung’s square pass to restore parity in the 79th minute. Nevertheless, the hosts had the last laugh as Alexander Meier rounded off his performance with his third goal to secure the win on home soil.
Despite the victory, Frankfurt remain on the 14th place in the standings while Wolfsburg stay on the seventh position.
Elsewhere, relegation-threatened Bremen shocked wasteful Schalke 3-1 with great assistance by Clemens Fritz who scored one goal and provided two assists.
Bremen caught a bright start on home soil as Johannes Geis corner kick found Joel Matip, whose header broke the deadlock with just five minutes into the game. Schalke pressed the visitors into the defence but Andre Breitenreiter’s men failed to make use of their promising chances.
Bremen recovered two minutes before the break when Clemens Fritz had all time and space at the edge of the box to slot home from 17 metres into the bottom right.
Schalke started highly motivated into the second half and turned the game through Claudio Pizzaro, who poked home Clemens Fritz cross to the far post in the 53rd minute.
The hosts were shocked but they tried to pull back. Yet, Bremen were able to keep Schalke on the distance and to kill the game thanks to Anthony Ujah, who capitalized on Fritz’ second assist of the day, in the dying minutes of the game.
The 3-1 win moved relegation-threatened Bremen closer to safety, as they are now equal on points with Stuttgart who sit on the 15th place, while sixth-placed Schalke retain their six-point deficit to the top three.