The Bielefeld Horror Picture Show!

Holy Moley! Hope your kids weren't watching the match today, as if they did, they would be needing some therapy after this one.

Rather than make a separate post for the Hannover 96 match, I figured I would make a post for both that match and the match on Saturday at Werder Bremen. It was rather prescient on my part because how would I know that they would turn into a horror double feature.

Game 1: Arminia Bielefeld 0-2 Hannover 96

To be fair, Bielefeld did not play bad against Hannover, and the stats showed that as both sides were virtually identical in every regard save the goals. The point of contention in the match was, of course, the handball by Wichniarek which gave the penalty to Hannover. As Ernst Middendorp states, it completely changed the course of the match, which, despite several close headers by Mathias Langkamp and Andre Mijatovic, not to mention a tricky shot by Wichniarek which hit the bar, Bielefeld couldn't equalize. A goal by Altin Lala on a nice counter attack set the score line, which did little to show how well Bielefeld played in the aftermath of the Schalke match.

So, in order to keep with the entry title, I guess this match would be considered the Attack of the Helping Hand.

Overall, I wasn't too enthusiastic about the trip to Bremen, but I was sure they would acquit themselves well... 

Game 2: Werder Bremen 8-1 Arminia Bielefeld

As the match began, I was pleasantly surprised to watch Bielefeld hang in with Werder, who seemed to have found their form coming into the match. Andre Mijatovic's header put Werder on noticve, but unfortunately nothing came out of it as minutes later Peter Niemeyer's goal caught everyone by surprise. The pitch began to tilt in Werder's direction, Mijatovic went off with an injury, and then they finally were rewarded for their efforts with a goal by Hugo Almedia, who had 2 shots stopped by Matthias Hain in the preceding minutes. I was a bit bummed by the goal but I knew they had it coming. However, the emotions changed radically when Wednesday's goat Wichniarek rifled in a shot just outside the box to cut the lead in half. In my game notes I had written...

37' Wichniarek scores! Lead's been halved... can they build on this and draw level?

Werder took a weak shot immediately after but Bielefeld began to press and Bernd Korzynietz won a free kick in the attacking half, and in the aftermath Werder promptly took the ball down the length of the pitch to make it 3-1 on a nice shot by Boubacar Sanogo, who got his double right before halftime to make the score 4-1. For me, the game was over already, but I hoped the scoreline would remain the same, if not a goal by Bielefeld to make it look respectable.

Snap. 

The second half continued right where the first left off with Werder completely in control of the match, and the Bielefeld back four were at their mercy. It's not really necessary to go into too much depth from here as the match ended up being a succession of Bremen rushes leaving Bielefeld defenders in their wake. What else can you say when you lose 8-1? Well, I guess I could give props to Diego for that free kick at the end. That was one nice shot.

With the goalfest complete, it's only right to say that this was a regular Eight Deadly Shots. I'll stop my movie title comparisons right now if you don't mind.

What I can say is that a priority going into the January transfer window is a serious bolstering of the back four. Bielefeld's problem isn't going forward, looking at the talent that's there, as well as the rumour of Iraqi International Hawar Mulla Mohammed being looked at by the club. (Link auf Deutsch) The problem remains at the back, which the retirement of Marcio Borges didn't help. Of course, in the time being, the folks back there need to step up, especially with Hamburger SV in the cards before the October international break. Though with that said, it seems that the game plan against Hamburg is to stop midfield Rafael van der Vaart if their statistics are to be believed. Let's hope so.

One last thing. YouTube has the footage of Artur Wichniarek leading the crown in the after game festivities from the Hertha Berlin match. Today wasn't too good, so let's leave the blog post on a good note. Here it is:

Next match: 6 October vs. Hamburger SV