VfL Wolfsburg suffered a setback in their hopes of qualifying for Europe next season after losing 1-0 against 1. FC Heidenheim on Matchday 27. Marvin Pieringer scored the only goal of the game, firing in from the penalty spot in the 16th minute. As a result, the Green-and-Whites remain on 38 points having lost ground in the battle for the European spots.
Toothless in attack
Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side never truly found their rhythm throughout the 90 minutes and struggled to make any headway in attack against their lively visitors. Substitute Lukas Nmecha had the best of the team’s few chances but was unable to make the most of them (77’, 88’).
Union Berlin up next
The Wolves will now shift focus to their next league assignment, away to Union Berlin on Sunday 6 April (kick-off 17:30 CET), as they bid to get back on track in the race for European qualification.
Goal
- 0-1 Marvin Pieringer (16’): After being fouled inside the box, Pieringer steps up to take the spot-kick himself. VfL goalkeeper Kamil Grabara dives the right way but cannot keep the ball out of the left-hand corner.
Reaction
Ralph Hasenhüttl: “Heidenheim deserved to win today. We were too sluggish and slow, especially after going behind, and made a lot of mistakes mentally. While we have also failed to win other home games, the big difference today was that we didn’t show a reaction in the second half and we didn’t get fresh energy from our substitutions. Having said that, we still had a couple of chances. Heidenheim didn’t have much trouble containing us today though. We’ll need to shake this off quickly and try to improve, because that just wasn’t good enough.”
Frank Schmidt: “We produced a very focused performance today. We were solid at the back, compact in the middle and covered a lot of ground. We didn’t give a chance away for a long time. We took the lead through the penalty and we could have got a second too. Overall I think we played well today. We performed as a team, recovered possession well and made use of the spaces to launch counter-attacks.”
Line-ups and stats
VfL Wolfsburg: Grabara – Fischer (83‘ Behrens), Bornauw, Koulierakis (26‘ Vavro), Maehle – Arnold, B. Dardai (61‘ L. Nmecha), Gerhardt, Skov Olsen (61‘ Kaminski), Wimmer – Tomas (46‘ Wind)
Subs: M. Müller (GK), Odogu, Paredes, Vranckx
1. FC Heidenheim: Müller – Siersleben, Mainka, Gimber – Busch (66‘ Föhrenbach), Schöppner, Dorsch (90‘+1 Schimmer), Krätzig (81‘ Kerber), Beck (80‘ Wanner) – Zivzivadze, Pieringer
Subs: Eicher (GK), Conteh, Scienza, Theuerkauf, Breunig
Goal: 0-1 Pieringer (16./pen)
Yellow cards: Gerhardt, Nmecha / Siersleben, Beck, Schöppner, Dorsch
Referee: Bastian Dankert (Schwerin)
Attendance: 21,545 at Volkswagen Arena (Wolfsburg)
