German football powerhouse Werder Bremen recorded their first Bundesliga win of 2009 in style, routing tough rival Stuttgart 4-0 at home on Sunday.

The defeat brought to an end Stuttgart's nine-game unbeaten run in the league under Markus Babbel and leaves them still four points shy of a European place.

Brazillian star playmaker Diego got the scoring underway for Bremen with a spectacular free kick, curled in off the underside of the bar in the 34th minute. Claudio Pizarro made it 2-0 with his 12th goal of the season in the 53rd minute and six minutes later Markus Rosenberg finished off the game as a contest, converting a defense-splitting pass from Diego. Rosenberg rounded off the scoring with his own second with just over quarter of an hour to go.

The game had got off to a slow start, with the greatest moment of excitement coming when defender Sebastian Boesnisch nearly put the ball into his own net with a back-pass in the 13th minute.

For their part, Stuttgart showed little inclination to exert any pressure up front until they were already well behind. Even then, however, they were rarely able to threaten the home defense.

(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2009)