Stuttgart throws away the victory: Five lousy minutes stop Wolfsburg’s upswing

Stuttgart throws away the victory
Five bad minutes stop Wolfsburg’s upswing

02/19/2022, 5:25 p.m

TSG Hoffenheim underlines their European ambitions, while VfL Wolfsburg has to struggle with itself. Similar to VfB Stuttgart, who prevented their own victory in the Bundesliga relegation battle. Union Berlin remains without a win without Max Kruse.

VfB Stuttgart – VfL Bochum 1: 1 (0: 0)

VfB Stuttgart has again missed a liberation in the relegation battle. The Swabians had to settle for a 1-1 (0-0) draw against Bayern conquerors VfL Bochum and have been waiting for a win for eight games in the Bundesliga. Coach Pellegrino Matarazzo’s side remain penultimate. After the Stuttgart lead through an own goal by Armel Bella Kotchap (56th), Bochum’s Eduard Löwen (90th + 4) aggravated the situation at VfB with the late equalization of the guests with a penalty kick. The will was not to deny Stuttgart, but the hosts lacked the clout. The pressure on Matarazzo and sports director Sven Mislintat should continue to grow.

The uncertainty was noticeable in the Stuttgarters in the first half. The Swabians tried hard, but made many simple mistakes. In addition, VfB had to deal with the absence of Silas Wamangituka early on due to a shoulder injury. But even in Bochum there was little of the momentum of the furious success against Bayern to be seen. Goalkeeper Manuel Riemann was almost unemployed when he returned from a corona infection, but only Milos Pantovic (8th) posed a danger at the beginning.

Matarazzo, who had received backing from Mislintat before the game (“We will walk this path together”), could not be satisfied with VfB’s poor performance. After a short urge before the break, the fans sent the team into the dressing room with encouraging applause. Initially little changed in the appearance of the Stuttgart team in the second round. The home team controlled the game, but acted too transparently and without ideas on the offensive. Omar Marmoush (50th) just missed the goal from a distance.

In the lead, the ball bounced off a header from VfB professional Orel Mangala from Bella Kotchap into the Bochum goal. The goal gave Stuttgart a lot more self-confidence. Matarazzo’s team put up a fight against the weak guests and missed the second goal through Mangala (76′), but was lucky again when the Westphalians hit the post with Sebastian Polter (83′). After a foul on the unlucky player in the VfB penalty area, Löwen didn’t let the chance pass him by.

FC Augsburg – SC Freiburg 1:2 (1:2)

SC Freiburg scored three important points in the tight fight for international places – and ended their Augsburg away curse. The SC deservedly won 2-1 (2-1) at FCA. It was the first success in the first division for the Swabians, and also the first for coach Christian Streich in Augsburg in his ten-year tenure. It was a major setback for FCA in the relegation battle. The Augsburgers have only won one game in the past eight games and remain in the relegation zone. Next week it’s against Dortmund. Freiburg, on the other hand, was able to free itself from its small low with its second win this year.

Nils Petersen gave Freiburg the lead in the 4th minute of his first start of the season. Michael Gregoritsch scored in front of 14,050 spectators in the 16th 1: 1 for FCA, who had to do without his coach Markus Weinzierl, who tested positive for Corona. He was represented by his assistants Reiner Maurer, Tobias Zellner and Jonas Scheuermann. Nico Schlotterbeck (26th) made it 2-1 for SC.

Freiburg started determinedly. After a great change of sides from Schlotterbeck and a precise cross from Roland Sallai, Petersen was there with his head. Freiburg stayed close and shortly afterwards had opportunities to raise quickly through Jonathan Schmid and Woo-Yeong Jeong. As a result, an intense game developed in which FCA fought back. However, with the help of Freiburg. The SC lost the ball during construction, the FCA switched quickly against unsorted guests – and Gregoritsch aimed precisely.

The SC shook itself and took advantage of Augsburg’s sleepiness and an insecurity of goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz with a free kick. Overall, the SC was playfully superior and earned the half-time lead. After the change, FCA increased the pressure. But the hosts were not initially dangerous. Freiburg was waiting for a counterattack and had great chances to make it 3-1 thanks to Jeong (58′) and Nicolas Höfler (64′). Augsburg remained largely harmless.

VfL Wolfsburg – TSG Hoffenheim 1: 2 (1: 0)

VfL Wolfsburg’s race to catch up has stopped for now. In the third game with Max Kruse, the wolves lost 2-1 (1-0) against European Cup contenders TSG Hoffenheim and, after two wins, conceded bankruptcy for the first time with their new attacker. Wolfsburg took the lead with a remarkable flick from newcomer Jonas Wind (36th). But substitute Jacob Bruun Larsen with a side kick (74th) and Andrej Kramaric (78th), who had recovered from Corona, turned the game in the final phase in favor of Hoffenheim.

The Kraichgauer landed their second success in a row, in the fight for the Champions League, the team of coach Sebastian Hoeneß passed RB Leipzig, at least temporarily. Both teams played a lively game in front of 7145 spectators in Wolfsburg, in which the hosts initially set the tone. With the self-confidence of the last two wins, the Wolfsburg team, unchanged compared to the Frankfurt game (2-0) under coach Florian Kohfeldt, started with a lot of speed.

Although Kruse and Co. initially reaped little in the form of goal chances, despite great effort and a lot of ball possession, the lead ten minutes before the break was deserved. The Hoffenheim team, in which top attacker Andrej Kramaric was able to play again after his second corona infection, acted surprisingly passively. Hardly anything went forward from the game in the first section, so that the greatest chance came about after a standard situation.

After a free-kick from the center line, Ihlas Bebou suddenly found himself free-standing. However, Maximilian Arnold saved his first attempt just before the line, then the TSG striker shot over it (13′). In the second half, the guests then took over the command. Wolfsburg now let themselves be pushed far into their own half – and were punished twice in the final phase. First Bruun Larsen scored with a side kick from five yards out, then Kramaric pushed Bruun Larsen’s cross over the line from close range. Hoffenheim keeper Oliver Baumann thwarted the greatest VfL chance to equalize when he parried a wind header (81st).

Arminia Bielefeld – 1.FC Union Berlin 1:0 (0:0)

1. FC Union Berlin has not found its way back to success in the third game after Max Kruse. The Irons lost 0-1 (0-0) to relegation candidate Arminia Bielefeld and have been waiting for at least one point for three games. In addition, the Berliners have not scored their own goals for 276 minutes – Kruse is still the last Bundesliga goal scorer. In front of 10,000 spectators, Masaya Okugawa gave Bielefeld the lead (53′). With his second home win, Bielefeld managed a small liberation in the relegation battle.

The Arminia initially took command and also had the first good chance in the game. However, Patrick Wimmer only hit the post with his deflected shot (11th). The Berliners needed a good quarter of an hour to appear in front of the goal of East Westphalia for the first time in a reasonably dangerous manner. Sheraldo Becker was unable to capitalize on an individual error (15′).

As a result, the Köpenicker, who often tried long and high balls, did not really find their way into the game and were too often too far away from their opponents. In the 36th minute of the game, Khedira missed the lead from around ten meters out in what was largely an uneventful first half. Six minutes later, winter new signing Sven Michel also just missed against the high-ranking Bielefeld team after a counterattack.

In the second round, the Berliners were more alert, but Bielefeld scored the opening goal. After a fine pass from the strong Wimmer, Okugawa completed the game with his eighth goal of the season (53′). Union continued to be dangerous as the game progressed, but failed several times at Bielefeld goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.