In the final sprint to stay up, VfL Bochum is in danger of running out of breath. After the bankruptcy against VfL Wolfsburg, the Westphalians are again deep in the relegation battle.
Thomas Letsch watched the final minutes with a pinched face and his hands in his pockets. The fans in the east curve sang against the sadness. After the first frustration, the Bochum pros dragged themselves to their supporters with their heads hanging, in order to be shaken up again in the relegation battle.
“The fans always have a good feeling when we still played a good game,” said Bochum’s Simon Zoller after the 1: 5 (0: 3) defeat against VfL Wolfsburg on Sky: “We conceded brutal goals, you exploited every mistake, so it was more than deserved that we lost.”
In the decisive phase of the season, Bochum lost its home strength: After five wins in a row, VfL lost four of the last five games in the Ruhr Stadium. “We’ve proven again and again that we’re more than entitled to play in this league,” said Zoller.
The efficiently countering Wolfsburg, on the other hand, can dream of Europe again. After only one defeat in the last eight games, sixth place in the table is very close again. Mattias Svanberg (10th/56th), Jakub Kaminski (21st), Patrick Wimmer (33rd) and Luca Waldschmidt via rebound after a missed penalty by Jonas Wind (77th) scored the goals for Lower Saxony, who won their first away win in Bochum since 2006.
Bochum’s defense with goalkeeper Manuel Riemann actively helped with the goals conceded. Substitute Moritz Broschinski (68th) only managed the consolation goal.
VfL Bochum completely off the roll
The hosts relied on their tried and tested recipe: long, high balls, especially to center forward Philipp Hofmann, who was supposed to lay off for his offensive colleagues. The first chance arose from such an action – after a long shot by Danilo Soares, Simon Zoller failed at goalkeeper Koen Casteels (7th). The wolves, on the other hand, tried fast ball passages – and were successful: Svanberg converted a cross from Wimmer to the opening goal.
It continued at high speed: Iwan Ordets narrowly missed the Wolfsburg goal with a header (13′). The guests countered ice cold: Wimmer prevailed on the middle line against two Bochum players, Felix Nmecha passed on to Kaminski, who didn’t give keeper Riemann a chance. Hofmann was unlucky on the other side, who only hit the post (25th).
Wolfsburg made it 3-0 before the break – with a bit of luck. When the outstanding Wimmer couldn’t find a pass, he simply took aim, deflected by Patrick Osterhage and the ball landed in the net. Bochum was now completely off the roll, the spectators reacted indignantly to the increasing number of mistakes.
But when it came to the second half, 22,000 VfL fans cheered their team loudly again. Bochum pushed for the first goal – but after the 0:4 the air was finally gone.
VfL Bochum – VfL Wolfsburg: The voices
Thomas Letsch (coach VfL Bochum): “We did a lot of things well, even if it sounds strange after a 1:5. In the decisive moments we did too badly, made mistakes, made it too easy for the opponent. It didn’t feel like a game on the pitch 0: 3. Then you tie the opponent down after half-time, make another catastrophic mistake and it’s 0: 4. But when I see the atmosphere here, how all of Bochum was behind the team, it makes me optimistic .”
Niko Kovac (VfL Wolfsburg coach): “We’re happy, we’re satisfied, the result speaks for us. We did really well in the first half, we found the free players, we were also a bit lucky in a few situations, and we were also very present in defence. With I was definitely not satisfied in the second half, the bottom line is that the win is okay.”
