VfL Wolfsburg ended up empty handed at home for the first time this season following a 3-1 defeat by Borussia Mönchengladbach. The visitors scored two early goals through Breel Embolo (5’) and Jonas Hofmann (7’), before Luca Waldschmidt reduced the deficit in the 25th minute in front of 12,845 fans at the Volkswagen Arena.
Even after Maxence Lacroix was sent off for a second bookable offence (76’), the Green-and-Whites continued to push for an equaliser, but Joseph Scally sealed the win for the guests in the fifth minute of stoppage time and as a result VfL slipped down to fifth in the standings for the time being. The next chance for Mark van Bommel’s charges to pick up points will come after the international break when they travel to Union Berlin on Saturday 16 October (kick-off 15:30 CEST).
Goals
0-1 Embolo (5th minute): Following a free-kick, Hofmann curls the ball into the box, finding Embolo in the middle. With his back to goal, the striker executes an overhead kick from close range to open the scoring.
0-2 Hofmann (7th minute): Embolo threads a through-ball into the path of Hofmann, who pokes it past the onrushing Koen Casteels before tapping into the empty net.
1-2 Waldschmidt (25th minute): Ridle Baku powers forward on the left and crosses into the Gladbach area. The ball bounces kindly for Waldschmidt, who wastes no time in smashing in from close to the penalty spot.
1-3 Scally (90th+5 minute): Scally seals the win with the last kick of the game after textbook counter-attack sees him bear down on Casteels and finish for Gladbach’s third.
The coaches’ reactions
Mark van Bommel: “We threw the game away at the start, it’s as simple as that. I don’t think we played badly after going 2-0 down. Gladbach are a streetwise team, but we had to take the risk of conceding more goals on the counter. After we pulled a goal back we tried to make some changes at half-time. That worked pretty well and with a bit of luck Dodi Lukebakio could have made it 2-2. We gave it everything we had, even with a man less. But at the end of the day we were chasing the game in vain after those first six minutes.”
Adi Hütter: “It was a really interesting and high-quality Bundesliga match that had everything you could want. If you use scoring chances as the yardstick, then I think we deserved to win. Wolfsburg deserve praise though. After an intensive game on Wednesday they gave it their all right until the final whistle.”
Line-up and stats
VfL Wolfsburg: Casteels – Mbabu, Lacroix, Bornauw (46’ Brooks), Gerhardt (46’ Roussillon) – Guilavogui (79’ Ginczek), Arnold – Baku (79’ Philipp), Waldschmidt, Lukebakio (66’ L. Nmecha) – Weghorst
Subs: Pervan (Goal), F. Nmecha, Steffen, Vranckx
Borussia Mönchengladbach: Sommer – Ginter, Elvedi, Beyer – Scally, Zakaria, Kone (60‘ Kramer), Netz (58’ Herrmann), Hofmann, Stindl (82’ Plea) – Embolo
Subs: Sippel (Goal), Jantschke, Benes, Neuhaus, Wolf, Bennetts
Goals: 0-1 Embolo (5‘), 0-2 Hofmann (7‘), 1-2 Waldschmidt (25‘), 1-3 Scally (90+5‘)
Yellow cards: Bornauw, Baku, Waldschmidt, Weghorst, Roussillon / Stindl, Zakaria, Beyer, Embolo
Red card: Lacroix (76‘)
Referee: Frank Willenborg (Osnabrück)
Attendance: 12,845 at Volkswagen Arena
