First Team

Wolves beaten in goal fest

VfL led twice but ultimately slipped to a 4-3 defeat in Leverkusen.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg played out a true Bundesliga classic on Sunday afternoon. There were no fewer than five first-half goals at the BayArena but despite putting up a courageous fight, the Green-and-Whites ended up losing 4-3 to the German champions. VfL started brilliantly and took a fifth-minute lead courtesy of Nordi Mukiele’s own goal, only for Florian Wirtz to equalise nine minutes later. Jonathan Tah completed the turnaround on 32 minutes to put the hosts in the driving seat, but the Wolves responded through Sebastiaan Bornauw (37’) before Mattias Svanberg put them 3-2 ahead in first-half stoppage time (45+1’). The contest continued to ebb and flow after the break, with Piero Hincapie restoring parity once more four minutes into the second half. Yannick Gerhardt was dismissed with two minutes remaining, before Victor Boniface struck in the third minute of added time to earn Leverkusen a come-from-behind win and ensure VfL’s efforts went unrewarded.

Goals

  • 0-1 Nordi Mukiele (5’): A delivery from Mohammed Amoura hits Mukiele on the thigh and flies into the bottom right corner to give VfL the lead. If the ball had evaded the Leverkusen man, Tiago Tomas would have been well-placed to convert the cross.
     
  • 1-1 Florian Wirtz (14’): Granit Xhaka plays a square pass into Wirtz, who steers a low shot into the bottom left corner from the edge of the area to level the scores.
     
  • 2-1 Jonathan Tah (32’): The hosts win a corner and Tah is left unmarked at the back post, heading into the far corner from a standing start.
     
  • 2-2 Sebastiaan Bornauw (37’): A big goal for the visitors! Bornauw rises highest from a Wolves corner and sends a powerful header into the net from close range.
     
  • 2-3 Mattias Svanberg (45’+1): Svanberg turns away from his marker and steers a precise shot low into the right corner from the edge of the area.
     
  • 3-3 Piero Hincapie (49’): Hincapie nods home a corner to restore parity again early in the second half.
     
  • 4-3 Victor Boniface (90’+3): Oh no. The Wolves fail to clear a Leverkusen attack and Boniface takes full advantage, turning in the blink of an eye and finding the bottom left corner from close range.

Reaction

Ralph Hasenhüttl: “The fans were treated to a very competitive game today. When you score three goals in Leverkusen and it’s still not enough to get anything, it’s tough and it hurts. But we weren’t strong enough defensively against Bayer’s physicality and dynamism today, particularly at set pieces. We defended well enough from open play and couldn’t have done much better in the first half. We were very aggressive and showed that we wanted to cause our opponents problems. We dropped deeper in the second half and were under enormous pressure. We then went a man down and it was tough to defend against them.”

Xabi Alonso: “I’m satisfied and happy with the three points, but I’m not happy with our performance. In the first half in particular, we were disjointed and conceded three goals. The second half was better. We have to analyse that to make sure we adopt the right mindset from the very first minute.”

Line-ups and stats

Bayer 04 Leverkusen: Hradecky – Tapsoba, Tah, Belocian (46‘ Hincapie) – Mukiele (46’ Frimpong), Xhaka, Aleix Garcia (79’ Palacios), Grimaldo, Adli (56’ Terrier), Wirtz – Schick (68’ Boniface)

Subs: Kovar (GK), Arthur, Andrich, Hofmann

VfL Wolfsburg: Grabara – Fischer, Bornauw, Zesiger, Kaminski – Arnold, Svanberg (71‘ Özcan), Baku (42‘ Koulierakis), Amoura, Tomas (71‘ Gerhardt) – Wimmer (71‘ Vranckx)

Subs: Müller (GK), Vavro, Dardai, Behrens, Wind

Goals: 0-1 Mukiele (5‘/own goal), 1-1 Wirtz (14’), 2-1 Tah (32’), 2-2 Bornauw (37’), 2-3 Svanberg (45’.+1), 3-3 Hincapie (49’), 4-3 Boniface (90’+3)

Yellow cards: Belocian, Grimaldo, Adli, Frimpong / Tomas, Zesiger, Kaminski

Red card: - / Gerhardt (88‘)

Referee: Sascha Stegemann (Niederkassel)

Attendance: 29,250 at BayArena (Leverkusen)