VfL Wolfsburg came away empty-handed from the Weserstadion, after head coach Paul Simonis’s men were beaten 2-1 (1-0) at Werder Bremen in the Friday night game that opened Matchday 10.
A goal from Mattias Svanberg (28’) gave Wolfsburg a lead that they were good value for going into the break, and they were still in charge up until the final minutes of the match, defending solidly throughout the second half. A late equaliser (83’) turned the game on its head, however, and ushered in a frantic final period, with 40,500 fans in the Weserstadion getting their money’s worth as the home team stole a winner deep into stoppage time (90’+4). VfL currently sit 12th in the Bundesliga table after this loss.
The Green-and-Whites will not be in action again until after the international break, when they take on Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the Volkswagen Arena on Saturday 22 November (kick-off: 15.30 CET).
Goals
- 1-0 Svanberg (28’): Despite Werder looking the likelier team to open the scoring, it ends up being the Wolves who make no mistake when a chance comes their way. Svanberg, Adam Daghim and Sael Kumbedi combine well on the right-hand side. Svanberg gets the ball just outside the six-yard box, pulls it back and fires it into the bottom left-hand corner. What a goal!
- 1-1 Stage (83’): The dam finally breaks. Yet another cross from the right sees Jens Stage leap like a salmon and send an unstoppable header into the back of the net from six metres out.
- 2-1 Mbangula (90’+4): Oh no! Yukinari Sugawara tees up Victor Boniface whose bicycle kick fails to come off. Samuel Mbangula reacts far more quickly to the loose ball than the Wolfsburg defence, however, and delivers the killer blow.
What the coaches said
Paul Simonis: “This was a very tough match for us. In the first half, we had periods where we dominated and we also scored a very good goal. After the break, we ended up doing nothing but defend, and that was why we ended up losing. The way I see it, there was only one team that deserved to win based on the second half, and that was Werder.”
Horst Steffen: “The first half was pretty poor. We had a few decent combinations without really creating much in the way of chances, and we didn’t defend well enough on the attack that led to the Wolfsburg goal. In the second period, we just kept ramping up the pressure. We were able to bring on good players who freshened up the line-up, and at the end of the day, it was a fine team performance.”
Line-ups and stats
Werder Bremen: Backhaus – Sugawara, Pieper, Coulibaly (80‘ Schmidt), Friedl – Stage, Lynen (86‘ Puertas), Grüll (85‘ Bittencourt), Schmid, Njinmah (65’ Boniface) – Topp (65’ Mbangula)
Subs: Hein (GK), Malatini, Covic, Alvero
VfL Wolfsburg: Grabara – Kumbedi, Seelt, Jenz, Zehnter – Souza, Arnold – Daghim (87‘ Skov Olsen), Eriksen (87‘ Pejcinovic), Svanberg (68‘ Wimmer) – Amoura (80‘ Wind)
Subs: Pervan (GK), Vavro, Koulierakis, Hensel, Bürger
Goals: 0-1 Svanberg (28‘), 1-1 Stage (83‘), 2-1 Mbangula (90‘+4)
Yellow cards: Friedl, Schmid / –
Referee: Felix Zwayer (Berlin)
Attendance: 40,500 at Weserstadion (Bremen)
