First Team

Year ends with defeat

Ten-man BVB won a hard-fought match.

VfL Wolfsburg lost 3-1 at home to Borussia Dortmund in the final Bundesliga match of this year. Before kick-off, the players, officials and spectators honoured the victims of the tragic attack at the Christmas market in Magdeburg with a minute’s silence. Both teams also wore black armbands in a further show of sympathy and solidarity.

BVB dominated the game from the off and already led by three goals at half-time, although they failed to take any of their chances in the early stages.

Three goals in six minutes

Then Donyell Malen (25’), Maximilian Beier (28’) and Julian Brandt (30’) gave the visitors a comfortable cushion in the space of six minutes. The Green-and-Whites came back into it after the restart, causing Borussia problems and reducing the deficit through Denis Vavro (58’). VfL showed spirit and improved on their first-half display in every department, but couldn’t avoid defeat despite Dortmund being reduced to 10 men when Pascal Groß was shown a red card in the 62nd minute.

The Wolves are now off for the Christmas holiday and will prepare for the start of the new footballing year at the training camp in Almancil from 2 to 10 January. The Lower Saxony side return to competitive action at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Saturday 11 January.

Goals

  • 0-1 Donyell Malen (25’): A corner causes chaos in front of Kamil Grabara’s goal. Borussia are stronger in the duels and create space for Malen, who’s free to finish past the powerless Wolfsburg keeper.
     
  • 0-2 Maximilian Beier (28’): Poor defending from VfL as a good pass from Brandt releases Beier on his own in the box, and he coolly takes his chance.
     
  • 0-3 Julian Brandt (30’): The third goal in six minutes and again the goalscorer is not well marked. After a back-pass on the edge of the area, Brandt is able to take a shot from 16 metres, which finds the left corner of the net.
     
  • 1-3 Denis Vavro (58’): Vavro rises highest at a corner and heads the ball home from seven metres. His first goal of the season and a boost for his team.

Reaction

Ralph Hasenhüttl: “We weren’t good enough in the first half and invited the opponents to score goals. There’s no coming back from that in the second half. It’s frustrating that we defended so badly for those five minutes and that the corner for the first goal wasn’t one. After the break we were more aggressive, got a bit more control and troubled the opponents as a result. Overall, Dortmund defended well until the end and therefore the win wasn’t undeserved. We need to become more solid defensively again, we’ve conceded too many goals in the last few games and we can’t always come back from that.”

Nuri Sahin: “We played very well in the first half and fully deserved to take the lead. I wasn’t happy with the second half at all because we needlessly became sloppy and then you’re going to be punished for that in the Bundesliga. Wolfsburg did that, then there was the red card. In the end, the team held on well. So, my summary: very good first half, second half not good.”

Line-ups and stats

VfL Wolfsburg: Grabara – Fischer (46‘ L. Nmecha), Vavro, Koulierakis, Maehle (86‘ Kaminski) – Arnold, Svanberg (46‘ Tomas), Gerhardt (75‘ Özcan), Baku, Amoura (86‘ Wimmer) – Wind

Subs: Müller (GK), Zesiger, B. Dardai, K. Behrens

Borussia Dortmund: Kobel – P. Groß, Can, N. Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini – F. Nmecha, Brandt (87‘ Reyna), Malen (64‘ Anton), Beier (75‘ Couto), Gittens (87‘ Adeyemi) – Guirassy

Subs: A. Meyer (GK), Kabar, Azhil, Duranville

Goals: 0-1 Malen (25‘), 0-2 Beier (28‘), 0-3 Brandt (30‘)

Yellow cards: Koulierakis, Gerhardt, Vavro / Malen, Couto

Red card: - / Groß

Referee: Dr. Matthias Jöllenbeck (Freiburg)

Attendance: 28,917 at Volkswagen Arena (sold out), Wolfsburg