VfL Wolfsburg won 2-1 at TSG Hoffenheim in their final Bundesliga match of 2022, capping off a perfect week in which the Wolves won all three of their games and extended their unbeaten run to nine in all competitions. The Green-and-Whites had to come from behind on Saturday afternoon, though, after Christoph Baumgartner headed the hosts in front from a corner in the 42nd minute. The equaliser came in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time courtesy of an Ozan Kabak own goal. Ridle Baku scored the winning goal in the second half (56’) on the break.
The meeting in Sinsheim was a particularly special one for VfL captain Maximilian Arnold, who made his 300th appearance in the green and white shirt in the German top flight. The Wolves now head off for a long break, returning to league action on 21 January with a home match against SC Freiburg.
Reaction
Niko Kovac: “We’re glad and happy that we managed to round off this week with a win, although we have to say that it was a fortunate win. Hoffenheim pressed high and created good chances. That said, I was pleased with the way the team saw out the game until the end. Over the 90 minutes you could see that we were absolutely determined to win the match.”
Andre Breitenreiter: “We saw a good reaction from the team today. They forced the opponents into mistakes. We had 22 shots on goal to six, were dominant and linked up really well. The difference was that one team is on a roll at the moment and then it often doesn’t take much to get success. Wolfsburg took their chances clinically, whereas we lacked efficiency.”
Goals
1-0 Baumgartner (42’): A short corner brings about the opener for TSG. Angelino’s sliced cross finds the head of Baumgartner, who leaves Koen Casteels with no chance from close range.
1-1 Kabak (45’+4 o.g.): Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann saves a header from Sebastiaan Bornauw but the ball bounces off Kabak and into his own net.
1-2 Baku (56’): VfL take the lead with their first attempt of the second half. A long kick out from Casteels finds Jakub Kaminski, who lays it off to Felix Nmecha. He plays it through to Baku, who beats Angelino before slotting the ball through Baumann’s legs.
Line-ups and stats
TSG Hoffenheim: Baumann – Kabak, Vogt, Akpoguma – Skov (82‘ Kaderabek), Stiller, Geiger (90‘ Quarshie), Kramaric (73‘ Larsen), Angelino – Rutter (73‘ Asllani), Baumgartner
Subs: Pentke, Quaresma, Becker, Bischof, Damar
VfL Wolfsburg: Casteels – Fischer (89’ Roussillon), Bornauw, van de Ven, Otavio – Baku, F. Nmecha (90’ Waldschmidt), Arnold, Gerhardt (65’ Guilavogui), Kaminski (65’ Philipp) – Marmoush (12’ Svanberg)
Subs: Pervan, Schulze (GK), Lacroix, Pejcinovic
Goals: 1-0 Baumgartner (42‘), 1-1 Kabak (45‘+4, own goal), 1-2 Baku (56’)
Yellow cards: - / Bornauw, Fischer, van de Ven
Referee: Daniel Schlager (Rastatt)
Attendance: 18,014 at Prezero-Arena
