VfL Wolfsburg celebrated their first victory in 12 competitive games on Sunday evening, beating Greuther Fürth 4-1. The Wolves were firmly in control after Aster Vranckx’s first Bundesliga goal had given them the lead in only the seventh minute, but the visitors improved towards the end of the first half and equalised a minute before the break, Branimir Hrgota firing home from the penalty spot following a VAR review.
Vranckx doubled his tally four minutes into the second half to make it 2-1 but it remained a tight affair, with the Wolves having to work hard for the three points. A Maximilian Arnold free-kick took a wicked deflection to give VfL a two-goal cushion 20 minutes from time, before substitute Maximilian Philipp completed the scoring five minutes later.
VfL’s next game – away to Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 22 – kicks off at 15:30 CET on Saturday 12 February.
Goals
1-0 Vranckx (7’): Renato Steffen hits the right-hand post from a tight angle following a flowing VfL move. The ball lands at the feet of Vranckx, who prods home from close range.
1-1 Hrgota (44’): VAR awards Fürth a penalty after Sebastiaan Bornauw’s foul on Jeremy Dudziak. Hrgota steps up and finishes confidently into the bottom left corner.
2-1 Vranckx (49’): Fürth goalkeeper Sascha Burchert comes rushing out of his goal to clear a cross but misses the ball. Vranckx is in the right place at the right time to fire into the empty net.
3-1 Arnold (70’): VfL’s record appearance holder Arnold tries his luck from a 25-yard free-kick, which takes a crucial deflection off Jamie Leweling and wrong-foots Burchert in the Fürth goal.
4-1 Philipp (75’): A free-kick from the right ends up at the feet of Philipp, whose volley strikes Hrgota before landing in the left corner of the net.
Coaches’ reaction
Florian Kohfeldt: “From a mental point of view, we put in a very good performance in tricky circumstances. There were definitely periods when the game could have swung in a different direction – it was open for a long time. But we showed a very good reaction after half-time in particular. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but mentally it was a very strong display and that’s why we fully deserved to win.”
Stefan Leitl: “I’m very disappointed with the result. From my perspective, it wasn’t as clear cut as the 4-1 scoreline suggests. We unfortunately lacked the required energy today – particularly without the ball, which has set us apart in recent weeks. We didn’t do enough in that regard today. Our play with the ball was decent. There were three good goalscoring opportunities at both ends and we ended up losing heavily, which I can’t quite get my head around yet.”
Line-ups and stats
VfL Wolfsburg: Casteels – Lacroix, Bornauw, Brooks (85’ van de Ven) – Baku, Vranckx, Arnold, Gerhardt (65’ Philipp), Kruse (83’ Waldschmidt), Steffen (65’ Roussillon) – Wind (65’ Białek)
Subs: Pervan (GK), F. Nmecha, Paredes, Lukebakio
Greuther Fürth: Burchert – Asta, Griesbeck, Viergever, Willems (79’ L. Itter) – Christiansen (71‘ Raschl), Tillman (85‘ Green), Seguin, Dudziak (71‘ Nielsen) – Hrgota (79.‘Abiama), Leweling
Subs: Linde (GK), M. Bauer, Jung, Pululu
Goals: 1-0 Vranckx (7’), 1-1 Hrgota (44’/pen) 2-1 Vranckx (49’), 3-1 Arnold (70’), 4-1 Philipp (75’)
Yellow cards: Seguin, Griesbeck / Vranckx
Referee: Martin Petersen (Filderstadt)
Attendance: 500 at Volkswagen Arena
