Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Arminia Bielefeld snapped their three-game losing streak with a narrow victory over Bayer Leverkusen. Radomir Djalovic opened his Bundesliga scoring account in the 66th minute after some good work from halftime substitute Ervin Skela. Leverkusen never looked like the ambitious team that reached the knock-out stages of the Champions League earlier this month and chalked up a deserved defeat. The opening 45 minutes brought meagre goalmouth action, with Arminia unable to replace German international Patrick Owomoyela (knee) and hard-working striker Fatmir Vata (broken nose). The visitors had little to offer themselves and it was a bicycle kick from Andrej Voronin that marked the sole highlight of an otherwise slow-paced first half. Robson Ponte had delivered a corner but Voronin's acrobatic effort landed on top of the bar after 13 minutes. A Petr Gabriel header from a Massimiliano Porcello free-kick after 34 minutes was as close as Bielefeld got to Leverkusen's goal. The half-time introduction of Albanian international Skela helped Arminia gain impetus. Defender Gabriel showed limited offensive skills when he shot over from promising position after a Detlev Dammeier corner in the 54th minute while Delron Buckley headed over from six yards out 10 minutes later. After Leverkusen's Dimitar Berbatov sent a header just wide, Arminia eventually broke the deadlock in the 66th minute when Skela darted into the attacking third. He beat Juan and fired a pin-point cross to Djalovic, whose spectacular left-footed first-time effort found the back of the net from the central position. Bielefeld kept pressing and missed two glorious chances in quick succession. Roberto Pinto fed Buckley with low cross from inside the penalty area but the South African's running shot whistled over the top bar in the 75th. Three minutes later, a Dammeier corner was met by substitute Klodian Duro at the far post. The Albanian international neatly shook off two defenders only to fire his effort well over the goal. Berbatov almost made the hosts pay in the 82nd minute. Paul Freier swung a beautiful midfield cross to the center of the box but Berbatov4s running volley was superbly parried by Mathias Hain. And when the keeper parried a Bernd Schneider drive in stoppage time, Arminia had secured three more points in their hunt for a place in the Intertoto Cup.