First Team

Edged out in Dortmund

The Wolves stood up to BVB for long periods but ultimately lost 1-0.

Der VfL-Wolfsburg-Spieler Moritz Jenz läuft mit dem Ball.

VfL Wolfsburg were left empty-handed on Saturday afternoon away to last season’s Bundesliga runners-up. Niko Kovac’s men were beaten 1-0 by Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 5, with Marco Reus scoring the only goal (68’) of a tight contest in front of 81,365 fans at the sold-out Signal Iduna Park.

VfL slip to seventh in the table for the time being following their second defeat of the season. They’re back in action next Saturday, 30 September, at 15:30 CEST when Eintracht Frankfurt visit the Volkswagen Arena.

Goal

  • 1-0 Reus (68’): Having defended so valiantly, the Green-and-Whites concede in relatively simple fashion. Donyell Malen sends Julian Brandt away with a sharp pass, and his cross is steered in by Reus from a central position five metres from goal.

Reaction

Niko Kovac: “We have reason to be annoyed. Obviously BVB were the dominant team over 90 minutes, but I think we defended everything well with the exception of two situations. One of those led to the goal. Defensively we did well, but not offensively. We had much higher hopes there. Far too often we gave the ball away immediately after winning it, so overall the Dortmund win was deserved.”

Edin Terzic: “We had control from the beginning and a lot of possession, even though we didn’t manage to create clear goalscoring opportunities in the first half. Nevertheless, we wanted to stick to our principles and positioning because we knew it would become difficult for Wolfsburg to defend the spaces. It was probably our best performance of the season.”

Line-ups and stats

Borussia Dortmund: Kobel – Ryerson, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini – Özcan, Nmecha, Reus (83‘ Can), Brandt, Bynoe-Gittens (63‘ Malen) – Füllkrug (78‘ Haller)

Subs: Meyer (GK), Reyna, Wolf, Moukoko, Süle, Adeyemi

VfL Wolfsburg: Casteels – Maehle, Lacroix, Jenz, Rogerio – Svanberg (78’ Vranckx), Arnold – Tomas (78’ Baku), Majer (88‘ Wimmer), Cerny (65’ Kaminski) – Wind (78’ Sarr)

Subs: Pervan (GK), Bornauw, Zesiger, Gerhardt

Goal: 1-0 Reus (68‘)

Yellow cards: – / Cerny

Referee: Sven Jablonski (Bremen)

Attendance: 81,365 at Signal Iduna Park (sold out)