VfL Wolfsburg claimed a hugely important 1-0 win away to VfB Stuttgart on Saturday afternoon, reigniting their bid for a European place. In a scrappy, hard-fought game, e-Stuttgarter Omar Marmoush scored the only goal in the 56th minute of the match. The three points move the Wolves back up to seventh in the table – although Mainz, who they overtook, don’t play until Sunday (against Freiburg).
Next weekend is an international break, so the Lower Saxony side are next in Bundesliga action on 1 April, when FC Augsburg visit the Volkswagen Arena.
Goal
- 0-1 Marmoush (56’): The breakthrough: Marmoush has a lot of space in midfield, drives towards goal and scores low into the corner from 25 metres to give VfL a deserved lead.
Coaches’ reaction
Niko Kovac: “I’m very pleased with my team’s performance and the result. We embraced the nature of the game. We knew it was going to be tough against VfB, who have really made a lot of progress in recent weeks. In spite of that, we didn’t allow them any notable opportunities and scored ourselves with our worst chance. We should’ve gone in front in the first half, so we’re happy to get the win in Stuttgart.”
Bruno Labbadia: “We didn't get into the game the way we wanted to in the first half. We wanted to put Wolfsburg under a lot more pressure – but tactically we weren’t up to scratch in a lot of areas. We wanted to get forward a lot more courageously, but unfortunately we didn’t completely manage that. It was only after the goal and the substitutions that we got a grip the way we wanted to. Then it’s obviously difficult to create chances against Wolfsburg. We were close a few times, but we lacked the cutting edge.”
Line-ups and stats
VfB Stuttgart: Bredlow – Anton (62‘ Vagnoman), Mavropanos, Ito, Sosa – Karazor (62’ Millot), Endo, Haraguchi (88’ Pfeiffer), Dias (62’ Coulibaly), Führich (62’ Tiago Tomas) – Silas
Subs: Müller (GK), Zagadou, Egloff, Perea
VfL Wolfsburg: Casteels – Fischer, Lacroix, van de Ven, Otavio (81’ Bornauw) – Arnold, F. Nmecha (76’ Guilavogui), Gerhardt, Wimmer (58’ Baku), Kaminski (58’ Paredes) – Marmoush (82’ Wind)
Subs: Pervan (GK), Cozza, Ambros, Svanberg, Wind
Goals: 0-1 Marmoush (56‘)
Yellow cards: Karazor
Referee: Dr. Felix Brych (Munich)
Attendance: 44,900 at Mercedes-Benz Arena
