The Wolves are in the last 16 of the DFB Cup! Jonas Wind scored the only goal of the game in extra time against Borussia Dortmund (117’) to book the Green-and-Whites’ place in the next round.
Match summary
Dortmund, the pre-match favourites to advance, controlled the early stages but were initially unable to create any chances of note. That all changed in the 14th minute when Nico Schlotterbeck slid a pass through to Maximilian Beier, who hit the post with just Kamil Grabara to beat.
Other than that, however, VfL remained firm at the back and had a good chance of their own in the 32nd minute when Mohammed Amoura drew a good save from Gregor Kobel (32’). Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side were in the ascendancy for the remainder of the first half but despite good openings for Bence Dardai and Lovro Majer, the game was goalless at the break.
The second half was more of a fierce cup battle than the first, and Grabara produced a brilliant reaction save to tip a Serhou Guirassy header over the bar. An attack-minded triple substitution from Hasenhüttl swung the closing stages VfL’s way but the ball simply would not go in – forcing the match into extra time.
Tiago Tomas hit the crossbar early on (92’) before Wind sent the Volkswagen Arena into raptures (117’) with a well-taken goal that booked VfL’s spot in the last 16.
Goal
1-0 Wind (117’): GOOOOOOAL! There it is! Wind does superbly inside the Dortmund penalty area to win possession of a high ball before toe-poking it past Kobel and into the far corner. Round of 16, here we come!
Reactions
Ralph Hasenhüttl: “That was a very, very disciplined game from us. Having conceded a lot of goals recently, we wanted to put a stop to that. Now we’ve kept back-to-back clean sheets, which is very positive. There was one occasion in the first half where we were too open in the middle and Dortmund had a huge chance, but other than that there weren’t a lot of dangerous situations, even if Dortmund were on top. I knew substitutes would be decisive today. We had the better bench and were able to add to our game, which is something Nuri couldn’t do. That put us in a position to increase the level of play, which is what proved decisive today. Jonas is superb inside the box; it was a great finish.”
Nuri Sahin: “We started the game well, had a big chance to score and also had periods in which we were increasingly dominant. Given the situation we’re in, it’s obviously frustrating that the ball didn’t go in after hitting the post. The boys sacrificed themselves given all the injuries we have at the moment. Conceding a goal like that shortly before the end is obviously extremely frustrating and it hurts.”
Line-ups and stats
VfL Wolfsburg: Grabara – Fischer, Vavro, Koulierakis, Maehle – Dardai (80‘ Gerhardt), Arnold, Baku (80‘ Kaminski), Majer (90‘ Özcan), Wimmer (69‘ Tomas) – Amoura (80‘ Wind)
Subs: Müller (GK), Odogu, Zesiger, Behrens
Borussia Dortmund: Kobel – Groß, Can, N. Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini – F. Nmecha, Brandt, Malen (77‘ Campbell), Beier (112‘ Paulina), Gittens (99‘ Sabitzer) – Guirassy
Subs: A. Meyer (GK), Kabar, Lührs, Mane, Azhil, Wätjen
Goal: 1-0 Wind (117‘)
Yellow card: Arnold, Özcan / F. Nmecha, Gittens, N. Schlotterbeck
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Berlin)
Attendance: 24,806 at Volkswagen Arena (Wolfsburg)