First Team

Long-awaited home win

The Wolves put an end to a lengthy winless run at home with a 3-1 victory over Union Berlin.

VfL Wolfsburg made a breakthrough on Matchday 13 by beating 1. FC Union Berlin 3-1 at home. The Wolves went into the half-time break 2-0 up thanks to an impressive showing and some clinical finishing from Patrick Wimmer (10’) and Mohammed Amoura (30’).

Strong performance 

Following 14 consecutive home games without victory, the Green-and-Whites were much improved under Daniel Bauer, defending compactly and regularly getting forward dangerously on the counter. Union didn’t get their first sight of goal until just before the interval, but they were denied by the frame of the goal. 

As such, the foundations for a long-awaited home win were laid in the first half, with Lovro Majer adding an extra buffer (59’) to ensure Stanley Nsoki’s reply for Union (68’) was nothing more than a consolation. 

Grabara saves from the spot

The finale could have been more nerve-wrecking, but Kamil Grabara saved a stoppage-time penalty from Leopold Querfeld to help see the result to the final whistle and secure VfL their first home win since January. The Wolves are next in action on Saturday 13 September away to Borussia Mönchengladbach (kick-off 15:30 CET).

Goals

  • 1-0 Wimmer (10’): After Amoura leads a quick counter down the left, Wimmer cuts inside and places a low shot into the bottom left-hand corner. 
     
  • 2-0 Amoura (30’): Sael Kumbedi bursts into space down the right and cuts the ball back into the middle for Amoura, who lashes it high into the net from near the penalty spot. 
     
  • 3-0 Majer (59’): Christian Eriksen threads a lovely ball through to Majer, whose first-time shot flies into the top right corner. 
     
  • 3-1 Nsoki (68’): Union pull one back. The Wolves struggle to clear their lines in the box following a corner and the ball comes to Nsoki, whose shot is deflected into the net. 

Reactions

Daniel Bauer: “We’re incredibly relieved today – the team, the fans, the club, the whole city. We had to wait a very long time for a home win but the boys were determined to do it today. In terms of statistics, we were second best today for the first time in three games. The opposite was always true beforehand. But today all that matters is the win. We scored some great goals, although we lost a bit of our momentum after our fourth goal was disallowed. Union came back with a great deal of power, they threw everything into it and made things tense. But we defended with everything we had. At the end of the day, the overriding feeling is of relief and joy that we were finally able to win.” 

Steffen Baumgart: “It’s not easy for me to analyse this game based on the result alone, because it sounds clear at 3-1 or 3-0. But if you look at the whole match as a whole, the chances and openings we had, then in most cases a game like this would finish differently. But that’s not how it is, and that’s exactly what frustrates us. It’s the third game in a row where our performance has been right but we still come away with nothing. It’s frustrating.”

Line-ups and stats 

VfL Wolfsburg: Grabara – Kumbedi (46‘ Bürger), Seelt, Koulierakis, Zehnter – Gerhardt, Arnold, Eriksen (90‘+1 Vavro), Majer (90‘+2 Hensel), Wimmer (65‘ Svanberg) – Amoura (73‘ Pejcinovic) 

Subs: Pervan (GK), Neininger, Skov Olsen, Katz 

Union Berlin: Rönnow – Doekhi, Querfeld, Nsoki (78‘ Burcu) – Trimmel (70‘ Kral), Haberer, Kemlein, Köhn (70‘ Rothe), Schäfer (57‘ Ilic), Jeong (57‘ Burke) – Ansah  

Subs: Raab (GK), Diogo Leite, Juranovic, Skarke  

Goals: 1-0 Wimmer (10‘), 2-0 Amoura (30‘), 3-0 Majer (59‘), 3-1 Nsoki (68‘) 

Yellow cards: Kumbedi, Eriksen, Majer, Koulierakis / Burke 

Referee: Robert Schröder (Hannover)