Goalscorer Wout Weghorst left the pitch with bloody heels, symbolic of the hard-fought 2-2 VfL Wolfsburg at Arminia Bielefeld.
With bloody heels, but with a relieved smile, Wout Weghorst crept from the square. Also thanks to a goal from the Dutch striker, VfL Wolfsburg remained unbeaten in the fourth game under coach Florian Kohfeldt, but more than a 2: 2 (0: 1) at Arminia Bielefeld was not possible for the Champions League participant.
“It was an extremely intense game,” said Weghorst on the Sky microphone when asked about his battered feet. His team-mate Maximilian Arnold praised the Lower Saxony’s morale: “Even after the 2-0 win, the belief in the point was still there.”
Masaya Okugawa (11th) and Fabian Klos (54th / foul penalty) earned Bielefeld the lead. Weghorst (62nd) and young international Lukas Nmecha (63rd) equalized for long uninspired Wolfsburg.
“At times it was not as we imagine it would be,” said VfL sporting director Marcel Schäfer, also with a view to Tuesday, when the North Germans will be in the premier class at Sevilla FC.
Wolfsburg again with a triple chain
The Wolfsburg defensive with the three-man chain established under Kohfeldt first had to cope with the momentum of the Bielefelder. After the first win of the season before the international break in Stuttgart, the table penultimate in front of 19,801 spectators was visibly inspired, played straight forward after winning the ball and kept falling behind.
It paid off. In a counterattack, Patrick Wimmer, who played with a face mask after a concussion and broken nose, waited for the right moment and served Okugawa with a lob into the interface. The Japanese finished straight away – and scored the DSC’s first competitive goal against Wolfsburg after more than ten hours.
Bielefeld found even more rooms, Alessandro Schöpf dribbled another good chance to finish (17th). On the other hand, Nmecha, most recently Wolfsburg’s best, was looking for a bond with the game. The Lower Saxony had more possession of the ball, but rarely penetrated into the opposing penalty area. And when they did, the people of Bielefeld defended passionately.
Kohfeldt switched after changing sides
After changing sides, Kohfeldt switched, Maximilian Philipp instead of Renato Steffen should put more pressure on. The approaches were worth seeing, Nmecha came to a free end after a nice combination (48th). On the other side, Schöpf dribbled into the penalty area, Kevin Mbabu came too late – the actually harmless situation resulted in a penalty for Bielefeld. Sturmrecke Klos turned flat to his third goal of the season.
After the 2-0 defeat, VfL went on the offensive, with another attacker in Dodi Lukebakio. He prepared the connection goal – and only 85 seconds later Wolfsburg met again.
Arminia Bielefeld – VfL Wolfsburg: voices
Frank Kramer (trainer Arminia Bielefeld): “The way the team resisted after the 2-2 win is worth a compliment. All in all, it was a really good performance and a partial success that we are happy to take with us.”
Florian Kohfeldt (coach VfL Wolfsburg): “Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the second half that we had the intensity that Bielefeld had throughout the game. If you’re 0-2 behind after 60 minutes, you have to be satisfied with one point.”
