First Team

Late blow

The Wolves drew 2-2 with VfB Stuttgart after conceding in added time.

VfL Wolfsburg had to share the points for the first time this season, drawing 2-2 at home to last season’s runners-up VfB Stuttgart at home. Jonas Wind (20’) and Mohammed Amoura (68’) twice gave Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side the lead in front of 27,135 spectators at the Volkswagen Arena, but the visitors responded twice, with the second equaliser coming in the seventh minute of stoppage time. VfL remain in 13th place in the table for now. Their next assignment sees them travel to VfL Bochum on Saturday 5 October (kick-off 15:30 CEST) in the third away match of the season.

Goals

  • 1-0 Wind (20’): VfL launch their first meaningful attack and make it count! Amoura drives down the left side and plays a perfectly timed pass to Wind in the middle. The Dane picks his corner and finishes off the counter with a low shot.
     
  • 1-1 Millot (32’): Double frustration for the Wolves. From a situation that didn’t seem dangerous, Stuttgart win a penalty after Sebastiaan Bornauw is too late on Jamie Leweling. Kamil Grabara actually saves Enzo Millot’s spot-kick but can’t keep out his follow-up shot.
     
  • 2-1 Amoura (68’): The Green-and-Whites again take advantage of a counter to regain the lead. After Jakub Kaminski releases Amoura, there’s no stopping the Algerian and he beats Stuttgart keeper Alexander Nübel to net his first competitive goal for VfL.
     
  • 2-2 Undav (90’+7): Unbelievable… Just like at Leverkusen last weekend, the Wolves are hit by a bitter blow right at the end of the match. With virtually the last attack of the game, substitute Deniz Undav denies Hasenhüttl’s men a home win.

Reactions

Ralph Hasenhüttl: “Today we played against a team who are one of the best in the Bundesliga in terms of their quality on the ball. So for us, it was first about being solid without the ball. We did that well for the most part. We couldn’t prevent everything but we hardly let anything past us in the final third. That makes the penalty that we conceded all the more frustrating. In the second half, it was important to press more offensively in order to win the ball more. In my view, both sending-offs were unjustified but unfortunately the VAR can’t intervene when it’s a second yellow. We tried to stay true to our style of play. Then we immediately found the situation we had been waiting for and should have been looking for much more often. But after the second goal, we didn't capitalise on the huge opportunity to make it 3-1 and were then punished in a way that hurts.”

Sebastian Hoeneß: “From our point of view, the first half was decent, good even. We frequently succeeded in what we set out to do – all that was missing was a presence in the box. That’s why we didn’t create the number of chances that we could’ve done from our dominance. After conceding, we reacted well and got back into the game. But thanks to a frustrating sending-off, which I regard as a clearly incorrect decision, it was then a different game. After Wolfsburg went 2-1 up, my team still showed that they believe they can turn it around. The fact we were rewarded at the end was very, very important for our morale.”

Line-ups and stats

VfL Wolfsburg: Grabara – Fischer, Bornauw, Zesiger, Koulierakis – Tomas (65‘ Baku), Svanberg (80‘ Vranckx), Arnold (86‘ Özcan), Kaminski – Wind, Amoura (86‘ Behrens)

Subs: Müller (GK), Pervan (GK), Odogu, Vavro, Dardai

VfB Stuttgart: Nübel – Vagnoman (87‘ Stenzel), Rouault, Chabot, Mittelstädt – Karazor, Stiller, Rieder (71‘ Führich), Millot (57‘ Undav), Leweling (86‘ Woltemade) – Demirovic (71‘ Toure)

Subs: Bredlow (GK), Chase, Hendriks, Keitel

Goals: 1-0 Wind (20’), 1-1 Millot (32’), 2-1 Amoura (68’), 2-2 Undav (90’+7)

Yellow cards: Bornauw, Arnold, Amoura, Vranckx, Koulierakis / –

Yellow-red card: Karazor (62‘)

Referee: Sven Jablonski (Bremen)

Attendance: 27,135 at Volkswagen Arena (Wolfsburg)