Alario strike puts Werkself fourth

"We played very well again today," said sporting director Rudi Völler after the match. "One slight disappointment was not scoring a second or third goal. But today we showed we can hold on to a 1-0 lead to the end."

Sven Bender expressed a similar view: "We were well organised and we didn't concede many chances. At the end of the day, it was much closer than it should have been."

Heiko Herrlich had to  manage against Werder without the suspended Wendell and  the injured Charles Aránguiz (muscular problem) and Vladlen Yurchenko (foot).

Werder Bremen strikers Fin Bartels (Achilles) and Aron Johansson (knee) were sidelined. Zlatko Junuzovic and Philipp Bargfrede started on the bench after recovering from knocks. 20-year-old Ole Käuper made his Bundesliga debut for the Green and Whites.

Herrlich made four changes to the side that faced Stuttgart: Admir Mehmedi, Lars Bender, Julian Brandt and Kai Havertz (all on the subs bench) made way for Benny Henrichs, Julian Baumgartlinger, Karim Bellarabi and Lucas Alario. "We want to share the load during this busy run of fixtures and reward the good performances of other players," said the head coach in explaining the rotation. 

Alario SCORES EARLY ON

A 26,600 crowd - including 2,400 Bremen fans- did not want to miss the final game of the year at the BayArena and they were undeterred by the inclement weather. And they witnessed the hosts taking an early lead: A long ball from Panos Retsos was controlled by Bailey at his usual high tempo, he beat Gebre Selassie, whipped in a cross from the goal line that Lamine Sané attempted to intercept. However, the Bremen defender failed to clear his lines. Lucas Alario was on the right spot to turn the ball into the net to make it 1-0 for the Werkself on eleven minutes - it was the third goal of the season for the Argentinean striker.

Bayer 04 remained on top and succeeded in keeping Werder away from their goal as they moved the ball well. The Werkself were quick in transition after winning possession as they endeavoured to get forward. A long-range effort from Bailey went wide of the target on 22 minutes. A shot from Kevin Volland  was much closer but he found the side netting on 25 minutes. Shortly after that, Bellarabi did well to beat Sané down the right but the Werder keeper Jiri Pavlenka was able to turn the shot to the near post away for a corner on 28 minutes.

Bailey IMPRESSES AGAIN

The first chance for Werder came just after the half-hour mark. And it was a decent effort: A cross from Florian Kainz found Maximilian Eggestein but Bernd Leno pulled off a fine reflex save to keep out his header from seven yards out. Then it was straight up the other end. Once again it was Bailey who  produced a great display as he kept pulling apart the left side of the Bremen defence. The Jamaican first left Kainz standing before putting in a cross for Volland but the striker was unable to connect properly and the ball went wide of the goal on 36 minutes. Bailey then  beat Selassie to shoot from the edge of the box himself - Pavlenka just managed to turn the shot away for a corner. The Werkself went into the half-time break with a deserved 1-0 lead.

Bayer 04 were on the front foot again after the restart with chances falling to Bellarabi (46'/49') and Julian Baumgartlinger (47'). Bailey then curled in a free kick from the right of the box towards the far post where a number of Black and Reds just failed to connect on 55 minutes.

Bayer 04 then slowed the game down but remained in control of proceedings  Werder were unable to create any clear-cut chances . Bayer 04 fans called for penalty when Niklas  Moisander appeared to handle the ball in his own penalty area in a challenge with Bellarabi but referee Tobias Stieler refused to award a spot kick on 68 minutes.

ChanceS for more emphatic victory

The Werkself pressed hard for the second goal in the closing stages - and created more good chances. A cross fired in by Henrichs was turned away for a corner by Selassie on 72 minutes, Baumgartlinger hit a shot just over the bar from the edge of the box on 73 minutes and Bellarabi forced Pavlenka into making an impressive save to keep out a powerful effort from 18 yards out on 82 minutes. The visitors did have a goalscoring opportunity just before full-time but Retsos was able to block the shot from Zlatko Junuzovic on 85 minutes.

There were two more good chances for the Werkself: Bellarabi, who had a good game, was twice unlucky in his attempts to convert passes from Julian Brandt (89'/90'). The match ended in a 1-0 win that was celebrated by the team and supporters alike. The fans created a great festive atmosphere at the BayArena with lots of little Christmas candles. 

The next  Bundesliga game for Bayer 04 is on Sunday 17 December with an away match at Hannover 96. The final  league game in the first half of the season for the  Werkself kicks off at 15.30 CET at the HDI Arena. On Wednesday there is the DFB Cup tie against Borussia Mönchengladbach (20 December, 18.30 CET).

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Leno – Retsos, Tah, S. Bender - Henrichs, Kohr, Baumgartlinger (L. Bender 87'), Bailey (Brandt 80') – Bellarabi, Alario, Volland (Havertz 67')

Werder Bremen: Pavlenka - Veljkovic, L. Sané (Junusovic 61'), Moisander - Gebre Selassie, Delaney, Augustinsson - Käuper (Hajrovic 74') , M. Eggestein, Kainz (Belfodil 70') - M. Kruse

Goals: 1-0 Alario (11')

Referee: Tobias Stieler (Hamburg)

Booked: Sané, Moisander, Käuper

Attendance: 26,620