Referee Michael Weiner has apologised for the error which led to Bochum's equaliser against Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Sunday.Werder lost ground on Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga after going down to a 2-1 home defeat.

And Michael Weiner's decision to allow Benjamin Auer's goal to stand even though he was clearly offside has caused uproar.

The referee apologised afterwards for a decision which contributed to Bremen's first ever defeat to Bochum in the Bundesliga.

"Normally, you don't apologise for every wrong decision, but in this case, I have to say sorry to Werder," he said.

"It was clearly offside and I take full responsibility.

The linesman should have spotted it, but I am the one who makes the decisions.

"There is no getting round it, and I will be thinking about this a lot."

Weiner also dismissed Bremen defender Naldo before Anthar Yahia sealed the win, earning Bochum precious points in their battle against relegation and condemning Thomas Schaaf's side to their second defeat in five days.

"We cannot afford to do this very often," Schaaf admitted. "We have got to point the finger at ourselves. We had enough chances to win the game."

Next weekend, Bremen travel to league leaders Bayern Munich hoping to make up ground in the race for the title.

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