Bremen, Germany (SportsNetwork.com) - Werder Bremen extended its winning streak to four games in the Bundesliga on Sunday with a 2-1 home win over Bayer Leverkusen to move seven points clear of the bottom three.
Bremen was playing without in-form striker Franco Di Santo, who missed out through a thigh injury, but goals from Davie Selke and Zlatko Junuzovic in the opening half hour had the hosts up 2-0.
Hakan Calhanoglu pulled a goal back for Leverkusen shortly before the break, but the visitors failed to muster an equalizer and the defeat leaves them in sixth place, two points adrift of a Champions League place.
Selke created a good chance for himself in the 17th minute, but failed to take advantage, although he didn't have to wait long for another opportunity.
Two minutes later, the 19-year-old got on the other end of a cross from Fin Bartels to send a volley past goalkeeper Bernd Leno from close range.
Leno produced a fine stop on Bremen's Theodor Gebre Selassie 10 minutes later, but he was picking the ball out of his net again in the 29th after a well- taken free kick from Junuzovic.
Leverkusen hit back in the 43rd when a shot from Gonzalo Castro struck the post, leaving a rebound chance for Wendell, which was saved by Bremen goalkeeper Raphael Wolf. However, the ball popped up for Calhanoglu and he headed it home to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Things got extremely physical after the break and Bremen was determined to protect its one-goal lead, leaving Leverkusen with very few looks at goal to see off the game and claim three more points.
Sunday's other Bundesliga fixture saw Eintracht come from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw at Augsburg, which jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 37 minutes with goals from Ragnar Klavan and Raul Bobadilla.
Stefan Aigner scored just before halftime for Eintracht, and Alexander Meier struck the equalizer with 20 minutes to play, preventing Augsburg from climbing into third place.
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