After three consecutive draws and a win, VfL Wolfsburg had to settle for a point again at home to Bochum on Saturday afternoon. The Wolves made a strong start at the Volkswagen Arena but then lost their way for a period, during which Erhan Masovic struck for the visitors.
The Wolves looked to have found the perfect response through Mohammed Amoura, but the Algerian was denied a 10th goal of the season following a VAR review.
However, stand-in captain Mattias Svanberg ensured that the Green-and-Whites took a point thanks to a late header.
Goals
0-1 Masovic (50’): Masovic is given too much space from Matus Bero’s corner and rises high to head the ball into the top right corner from seven metres.
1-1 Svanberg (81’): There’s the equaliser – and this time it stands! Timo Horn fails to claim a corner from Andreas Skov Olsen, causing confusion at the near post. Svanberg gets his head to the ball and somehow bundles it over the line with the help of Ivan Ordets. A scrappy but important goal!
Reaction
Ralph Hasenhüttl: “We had the opponents that we expected – hardworking, strong in the tackle and defensively well organised. We started well but couldn’t capitalise on that period. That’s what we’re still lacking to win matches like this. We need to learn how to immediately reward ourselves for such efforts because that will make our job easier.”
Dieter Hecking: “We’ll happily take the point. We knew that we needed mentality to work the match in our favour and we also played some nice stuff. It was a very, very good performance – a step forward. The journey isn’t over yet, though. We need to continue like this consistently, then it [survival] might be possible. We mustn’t let up one bit.”
Line-ups and stats
VfL Wolfsburg: Müller – Roerslev (58’ Bornauw), Vavro, Koulierakis, Maehle – Svanberg – Vranckx (63‘ Dardai), Wimmer (63‘ Gerhardt) – Tomas (58‘ Skov Olsen), Wind, Amoura (89‘ Nmecha)
Subs: Pervan (GK), Kaminski, Behrens, Odogu
VfL Bochum: Horn – Oermann, Masovic, Ordets, Bernardo, Holtmann (78‘ Wittek) – Bero, Sissoko (90‘+4 Losilla), Krauß – Hofmann (85‘ Broschinski), Masouras (90‘+4 Gamboa)
Subs: Drewes (GK), Medic, de Wit, Miyoshi, Pannewig
Goals: 0-1 Masovic (50‘), 1-1 Svanberg (81‘)
Yellow cards: Wind, Bornauw / Bero, Ordets, Wittek
Referee: Timo Gerach (Landau)
Attendance: 23,772 at Volkswagen Arena (Wolfsburg)
