First Team

Three vital points

VfL Wolfsburg beat VfL Bochum 1-0 at home.

The Wolves won 1-0 in the hugely important clash against relegation rivals Bochum to move four points clear of their opponents in the table. Jonas Wind scored the only goal just before half-time in a hard-fought contest over 90 minutes at the Volkswagen Arena, his tenth of the season and first of the year. 

The Green-and-Whites are next in action next Saturday, 27 April, when they visit SC Freiburg on Matchday 31 (kick-off 15:30 CEST).

Team news

There were three changes to the VfL side following the 3-0 defeat at RB Leipzig last time out. Maxence Lacroix returned to the back three after serving a suspension, with the suspended Moritz Jenz making way for the Frenchman. Tiago Tomas and Wind were brought back into the attack by Ralph Hasenhüttl, with Amin Sarr and Kevin Behrens dropping to the bench. Bochum coach Heiko Butscher kept faith with the team that drew 1-1 against Heidenheim.

Goals 

1-0 Wind (43’): The Wolves swarm – and strike at the right moment! Bochum are unable to clear the ball away and it eventually arrives with Wind. The Danish striker finally demonstrates his finishing ability again, sweeping the ball into the bottom right corner with his left foot to end his goalscoring drought.

Reaction

Ralph Hasenhüttl: “The game was as expected. There was a lot of talk beforehand about whether this team has what it takes for a relegation battle. Today was a typical game in which you felt the pressure from the first minute, because there was a lot riding on it. The team showed exactly the type of performance you have to show. We stood our ground well, even though we obviously weren’t able to play much good football. Bochum played too aggressively for that, but that’s not what today was about. It was nervy until the end. The team earned the win today because of their body language and their ability to resist.”

Heiko Butscher: “We’re obviously disappointed because we had high hopes. We started the match really well and did a good job of implementing what we wanted to do, especially in the first half. We also had two very good opportunities but didn’t take the lead, which is our big problem. Then we let in the goal, having had three or four chances to clear the ball. In the second half, it was a typical slog for a game where a lot’s at stake. The statistics were also very even. We gave it everything, hit a lot of crosses and also had another very good opportunity for Philipp Hofmann. Wolfsburg threw everything at us, though. We tried everything, our morale is still intact but we’re left with no points.”

 

Line-ups and stats

VfL Wolfsburg: Pervan – Lacroix, Bornauw, Zesiger – Fischer (75‘ Kaminski), Gerhardt, Arnold (90‘+2 Svanberg), Vranckx, Baku (65‘ Sarr) – Tomas (ab 65‘ Paredes), Wind (65‘ Behrens)

Subs: Klinger (GK), Maehle, Majer, Wimmer

VfL Bochum: Riemann – Passlack (81‘ Broschinski), Masovic, K. Schlotterbeck, Bernardo – Losilla (68‘ Daschner), Osterhage (87‘ Förster), Asano (46‘ Antwi-Adjej), Stöger, Bero (68‘ Wittek) – P. Hofmann

Subs: Luthe (GK), Ordets, Gamboa, Förster, Oermann

Goals: 1-0 Wind (42‘)

Yellow cards: Bornauw, Tomas, Paredes, Sarr / Osterhage, Antwi-Adjej, Stöger

Referee: Tobias Reichel (Sindelfingen)

Attendance: 26,327 at Volkswagen Arena