Werder Bremen 2-0 Borussia Dortmund

Mar 2 2008 Gavin Berry At Weserstadion

Gers Must Be Wary Of Swede Striker Markus

WERDER BREMEN 2-0 BORUSSIA DORTMUND

RANGERS are no strangers at working out how to stop a top Swedish striker after years of facing Henrik Larsson in his prime at Celtic.

Now Ibrox boss Walter Smith will have to come up with a plan for Markus Rosenberg when Werder Bremen head to Glasgow for the first leg of their UEFA Cup showdown on Thursday.

The Scandinavian was the star of the show as he inspiredWerder to victory with both goals in yesterday's win over Borussia Dortmund.

Rosenberg netted the first with a cheeky backheel then sealed the points with a superb individual goal. So Rangers stoppers Carlos Cuellar and Davie Weir could have their work cut out against the ex-Ajax man.

However, there were some promising signs in the first half for Ibrox spy Ewan Chester with young left-back Sebastian Boenisch looking shaky and the normally reliable Per Mertesacker not having his best day.

Dortmund had a first-half goal ruled out and while Bremen are impressive going forward they leave the door open at the back.

But Thomas Schaaf'smen stepped things up in the second half and looked a much more formidable force as they moved through the gears to clinch the points.

And this win was sealed without star man Diego who is serving a domestic suspension. But the Brazilian playmaker will return to the side for their Ibrox showdown.

On paper this was a game the home side should have been looking to win to maintain their title charge with struggling Dortmund in the bottom half of the Bundesliga.

But Bremen had lost twice already to Borussia this season - a defeat in the German Cup and a 3-0 drubbing in the league.

Schaaf's side were eager to put that right and almost made the dream start in their bid for revenge as Werder's front pairing showed how well they can combine.

Croatian Ivan Klasnic released strike partner Rosenberg down the left and from his cross Dortmund stopper Robert Kovac almost put the ball past keeper Marc Ziegler.

Kovac's touch was destined for the net but Ziegler managed to tip it round the post.

The keeper was called on again 60 seconds later - this time at full stretch to his left from Mesut Ozil's blistering long-range drive.

But Gers scout Chester would have been looking for signs of hope at the other end and duly got one after 17 minutes with some slack defensive play.

Firstly left-back Boenisch - who has only recently returned from a lengthy injury - was easily beaten for pace down the flank by Jakub Blaszczykowski.

And when the Pole crossed Bremen's towering central defender Mertesacker was equally sloppy as he left Mladen Petric unmarked.

The Dortmund ace should have fired home but Tim Wiese made a stunning low save to touch the ball round the post.

On the half-hour Dortmund got more joy on Werder's left when Petric crossed for Brazilian Tinga to score. However, the home side got off the hook when Tinga's effort was ruled out for a foul. Bremen hit back 10 minutes before the break with a thunderous long range free-kick from Naldo that Ziegler touched on to the underside of the bar.

Schaaf then showed he doesn't think twice about switching things early and right-back Patrick Owomoyela, who was performing well, was replaced by Aaron Hunt.

On the stroke of half-time Werder got the breakthrough they desperately wanted thanks to Swedish frontman Rosenberg.

Jurica Vranjes delivered a low ball across the face of goal that beat Ziegler and although he looked suspiciously offside Rosenberg held off Antonio Rukavina before back-heeling home the opener.

Dortmund almost grabbed a leveller early in the second half when Petric saw a free-kick smash off the top of Wiese's bar. But there was only one team in it after that as Schaaf's troops stepped it up from their first-half performance.

Naldo had a raking drive well saved by Ziegler before the second goal arrived in 64 minutes.

And Rosenberg was again the man who grabbed it.

Substitute Hunt picked out the Swede with a good pass from midfield but after that it was all about Rosenberg.

The striker showed brilliant skill to leave the Dortmund defence for dead and rifled the ball into the net.

He was denied a hat-trick by a good stop from Ziegler as Werder tried to cap the victory with a third.

But now Rosenberg will be keen to follow in former international team-mate Larsson's footsteps by scoring against Rangers at Ibrox.