First Team

Stalemate in Heidenheim

The Wolves played out a 1-1 draw against the promoted side.

Der VfL-Wolfsburg-Spieler Jonas Wind schießt den Ball.

VfL Wolfsburg were held to an entertaining 1-1 draw by Heidenheim in their first encounter of the second half of the 2023/24 Bundesliga campaign. The Wolves took an early lead through Vaclav Cerny (7’) but the home side responded well and thought they had equalised through Jan Schöppner (21’), only for the goal to be disallowed for offside. Heidenheim did eventually restore parity in first-half stoppage time (45’+2), when Moritz Jenz inadvertently sent the ball into his own net. The hosts had another goal chalked off in the second half as the game ended all square.

The Green-and-Whites welcome 1. FC Köln to the Volkswagen Arena on Saturday 27 January, kicking off at 15:30 CET.

Goals

0-1 Vaclav Cerny (7’): VfL take the lead with their first real attack of the game. Cerny plays a fine one-two with Jonas Wind inside the penalty area and the Czech international confidently slots the ball past Kevin Müller.

1-1 Moritz Jenz (45’+2, own goal): An unfortunate moment for Jenz, who tries to clear a cross from the right, but the ball strikes the top of his foot and flies into the far corner, leaving VfL goalkeeper Koen Casteels stranded.

Reaction

Niko Kovac: “It was a hard-fought game today. It wasn’t easy here in Heidenheim, but we started very well and took the lead – as we did in Mainz. After that well-worked goal we should have scored a second later in the first half, but then something happened that should never have happened – we conceded the equaliser while we were a man down [after Lovro Majer had left the pitch with an injury]. Heidenheim played a lot of direct balls in the second half, including corners and crosses that weren’t easy to defend against. We could have been more clinical with our opportunities late on, but in the end a draw was a fair result.”
 
Frank Schmidt: “We didn’t start well and fell behind through Wolfsburg’s first proper attack. We improved after that, particularly after having a goal disallowed for a marginal offside. I was impressed by the way we put them under pressure before half-time and got our just rewards with a fortunate equaliser. We hardly created anything in attack in the second half and were unfortunate to have another goal ruled out for offside. We put in a lot of effort overall – mentally as well as physically – but at the end of the day we’re very happy with the draw. It was an even contest. My players deserve great credit.”

Line-ups and stats

1. FC Heidenheim: Müller – Traore, P. Mainka, Gimber, Föhrenbach – Maloney (72‘ Sessa), Dinkci (82‘ Pick), Beck, Schöppner, Beste (89‘ Dovedan) – Kleindienst

Subs: Eicher (GK), Busch, Siersleben, Janes, Theuerkauf, Schimmer

VfL Wolfsburg: Casteels – Maehle, Bornauw (76’ Lacroix), Jenz, Rogerio – Gerhardt (90’+3 Amoako), Arnold, Cerny (76’ Pejcinovic), Majer (46’ Tomas), Kaminski (62’ Paredes) – Wind

Subs: Pervan (GK), Cozza, Fischer, Zesiger

Goals: 0-1 Cerny (7’), 1-1 Jenz (45’+2/own goal)

Yellow cards:  – / Gerhardt

Referee: Timo Gerach (Landau)

Attendance: 15,000 (sold out) at Voith-Arena, Heidenheim