First Team

Victory in Frankfurt!

Goals from Max Kruse and Dodi Lukebakio gave the Wolves all three points at Eintracht Frankfurt.

VfL Wolfsburg picked up their second successive Bundesliga victory on Saturday afternoon with a 2-0 success at Eintracht Frankfurt. In front of a crowd of 10,000 spectators, January signing Max Kruse scored his first goal for VfL since returning to the club, converting from the penalty spot in the 28th minute after he had been fouled by Martin Hinteregger.

At that stage, the home side were playing with energy and tempo, albeit without seriously troubling the Green-and-Whites’ rearguard. Dodi Lukebakio sealed the points in the third minute of stoppage time with his strike to make it 2-0.

VfL were focused on getting the result throughout an intensive game, and ultimately ran out deserved winners. Florian Kohfeldt’s charges are next in action against TSG Hoffenheim at the Volkswagen Arena next Saturday (kick-off 15:30 CET).

Goals

  • 0-1 Kruse (28): Kruse underlines exactly why he is a penalty expert, delaying his shot until Kevin Trapp dives to one side before coolly slotting the ball into the net.

  • 0-2 Lukebakio (90+3): Hinteregger inadvertently heads the ball into the path of Lukebakio, who collects it near the byline on the left. The angle is tight, but the VfL substitute still manages to smash it into the net.

Coaches’ reaction

Florian Kohfeldt: “That was very hard work today. We weren’t in the game for the first 20 minutes, we hardly saw the ball and Eintracht pressed us really high up. We found our footing better after that though, and it was a match between equals from then until half-time. Apart from the penalty, Jonas Wind also had a good chance.

“After the break Eintracht had more possession, but we defended well in our final third. We had some good ideas of our own going forward and then killed the game off with the kind of move you want in a match like this one. Overall, our mentality was superb today. We defended very well, but there’s room for improvement in our own build-up play. At the end of the day we just had that little bit more luck.”

Oliver Glasner: “We played really well in phases of the game and constantly put Wolfsburg under pressure. We had a few good attacking moves, but we weren’t good enough in certain decisive moments. We weren’t able to make the most of our openings in the opposition’s penalty area and we conceded soft goals at the back. We weren’t able to get behind VfL’s solid back three.”

Line-ups and stats

Eintracht Frankfurt: Trapp – Tuta, Hinteregger, Ndicka – da Costa (70' Knauff), Sow, Jakic (85' Hrustic), Lenz (62' Kostic), Lindström, Kamada (85' Hauge) – Borre (70' Paciencia)

Subs: Grahl (GK), Chandler, Ilsanker, Rode

VfL Wolfsburg: Casteels – Lacroix, Sebastiaan Bornauw, Brooks – Baku, Vranckx (62' Gerhardt), Arnold, Roussillon (72' Steffen), Kruse, Philipp (62' Lukebakio) – Wind (90' Bialek)

Subs: Pervan (GK), Mbabu, F. Nmecha, Paredes, Waldschmidt

Goals: 0-1 Max Kruse (28'/pen), 0-2 Lukebakio (90'+3)

Yellow cards: Jakic / Brooks, Steffen

Referee: Frank Willenborg (Gehlenberg-Neuvrees)

Attendance: 10,000 at Deutsche Bank Park