Ruud scores to lead Madrid
Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Ruud van Nistelrooy scored in the 75th minute Tuesday to give Real Madrid a 2-1 win over Werder Bremen in Group C of the Champions League.

The Netherlands striker slotted a short pass from Raul Gonzalez into the left of goal to make up for missing a handful of chances in the match.

Raul gave Madrid the lead in the 16th, but Boubacar Sanogo equalized in the 17th with a header.

"It was hard work. We had chances and eventually they materialized," said Raul, who scored for the 57th time in European play. "This win does give us confidence going ahead in the group."

Arjen Robben made his Madrid debut, coming in as a substitute in the 84th for Raul.

Madrid leads Group C with three points, while Bremen has zero. Olympiakos and Lazio both have one point after playing to a 1-1 draw at Athens, Greece.

"The team worked for this win, they knew it wasn't going to be easy," Madrid coach Bernd Schuster said. "They worked, they fought, they did some things I liked a lot, some I didn't so much, but we deserved it in the end."

After Raul cut through the centre of Bremen's defence to meet Van Nistelrooy's low cross with his head, Sanogo's header got through Iker Casillas and trickled over the goal line.

In the 24th, Casillas blocked an attempt from Markus Rosenberg, who tried to slot in Diego's neat pass from the right.

Besides another weak shot from Rosenberg, Madrid controlled the play with Van Nistelrooy nearly scoring from successive swivel shots set up by Gonzalo Higuain in the 28th and 33rd.

Higuain went close three minutes later, but the Argentine teenager's powerful half-volley went wide.

Daniel Jensen had Casillas diving to make a two-handed stop on his shot in the 42nd to cap a frantic half.

Higuain continued to trouble the Bremen defence in the second half, sending a high shot over goal in the 52nd. Marcelo made a diving block to deny Bremen's Hugo Almeida in front of goal at the start of injury time.

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