Claudio Pizarro scored a hat trick to lead Werder Bremen into the
last 16 of the Europa League with a 4-1 victory over FC Twente on
Thursday.
Defender Naldo also scored for Bremen in a one-sided match.
Luuk de Jong scored a consolation goal for the Dutch side as Bremen
won 4-2 on aggregate.
Pizarro's three goals means he is now the competition's
leading scorer with eight.
"It was important that we scored some early goals," Pizarro
said. "After that it became easier for us."
Bremen dominated from the opening whistle and took the lead
after 15 minutes when Hugo Almeida sent in a low, hard cross into
the penalty area and Pizarro tapped it in.
Five minutes later, Bremen pounced on a careless pass by
Bernard Parker and Mesut Oezil passed to Pizarro, who scored his
second with a crisp shot.
Two minutes later, Almeida hit the post as Bremen shredded
Twente's defense.
In the 27th, Bremen again won possession and put together a
swift passing move to outfox Twente's defense before Naldo beat
goalkeeper Sander Boschker after being set up by Pizarro.
Twente revived its hopes when Bryan Ruiz had plenty of time
to pick out as cross and de Jong was left unmarked to head home in
the 33rd.
Ruiz hit the post with only Bremen's goalkeeper Christian
Vander to beat - only to see Pizarro complete his hat trick and
make it 4-1 in the very next move. Pizarro collected a pass at the
edge of the area and slotted home.
