Football news - Werder Bremen and Borussia Monchengladbach labour to disapponting draw

Borussia Monchengladbach and Werder Bremen played out a laborious 0-0 Bundesliga draw at the Weserstadion which will do little to help either club achieve their very different goals for the rest of the season.

The first half was a drab affair. Bremen had the early territorial advantage but save an early pop shot from Davy Klaassen they failed to truly trouble Yann Sommer.

At the other end, Florian Neuhaus had a trio of efforts, the best of which forced a sprawling save from Jiri Pavlenka to stop it from flying into the top corner.

Sommer found himself busier at the start of the second half, producing a fine double save to deny Milot Rashica from a corner, then smothering the follow-up.

Neuhaus and Marcus Thuram had the odd threatening moment for Gladbach but increasingly, it was Bremen who looked the more threatening, with Sommer having two moments of madness which the hosts failed to punish.

Leonardo Bittencourt, the hero in the weekend's win over Freiburg, arguably came closest, firing a shot just over the bar, while very late on Davie Selke missed two chances to grab the win.

A point that works for neither team. They say every point counts at the business end of the season but truthfully, a draw works for neither team here. Gladbach, with the riches of the Champions League on offer, failed to take the initiative against a team with a poor defence struggling to avoid the drop, while Bremen failed to build any momentum after their weekend win against their decidedly out-of-sorts opponents.

Milot Rashica (Werder Bremen): In a match low on quality, it was Bremen's top scorer who was often the most creative force on the pitch. An honourable mention goes to Neuhaus, who performed the same role for Gladbach and was by far their most dangerous player.

Werder Bremen: Pavlenka 7, Gebre Selassie 6, Veljkovic 6, Moisander 7, Friedl 6, Gross 6, Eggestein 6, Klaassen 7, Osako 6, Rashica 7, Sargent 5 Subs: Bittencourt 7, Selke 6, Bartels n/a

Borussia Monchengladbach: Sommer 5, Lainer 6, Jantschke 6, Ginter 7, Elvedi 6, Wendt 7, Stindl 7, Kramer 6, Neuhaus 7, Plea 6, Thuram 7. Subs: Bensebaini 6, Hofmann 6, Benes n/a, Herrmann n/a

13' Good save! Gebre Selassie gets down the right and feeds it to Klaassen, whose powerful effort is straight at Sommer. He parries and it's scrambled away for a corner, which is wasted.

38' The best moment of the match so far! Neuhaus has certainly been Gladbach's best player and almost broke the deadlock with a driving run followed by a stinging effort from distance, which Pavlenka tips away at full stretch with the ball flying into the top corner. That's more like it!

50' What a save! Rashica has always looked the most likely to score for Bremen and almost managed it with a free kick from 25 yards which bounced wickedly in front of Sommer, who got up brilliantly to save the follow up.

73' What. A. .Chance. Sommer dawdles on the ball and is promptly robbed in possession by Bittencourt. It falls to Sargent to apply for the finish but somehow a defender makes amends for his howler and smothers the ball.

77' Are Bremen making a late dart for this? Bittencourt, the hero over the weekend, lets fly from distance and it *just* goes over. There were millimetres in that...

81' Gladbach are riding their luck! Sommer charges out of his goal to collect a loose ball but passes it straight to Rashica. He puts in a threatening ball but no one can get their head to it. Bremen have had their chances...