On a bitter day for Maximilian Arnold, VfL Wolfsburg saved a point late on. Against FC Augsburg it was still enough for a 2: 2 (0: 2).
Coach Niko Kovac hugged unlucky Maximilian Arnold very tightly and encouraged his captain after the late happy ending. Despite an own goal and a missed penalty by Arnold, VfL Wolfsburg saved a point in the 2-2 (0-2) win against FC Augsburg seconds before the final whistle.
Luca Waldschmidt (85th, according to video evidence) and young national player Felix Nmecha (90th + 6) scored the goals for Lower Saxony, who had hoped for more in the race for Europe.
Arnold’s bad luck began in the 2nd minute. In front of 22,107 spectators, the 28-year-old headed a corner with bad timing over the puzzled Koen Casteels into his own goal. After a foul on Patrick Wimmer, Patrick Wimmer quickly had the chance to make amends from the point – but Arnold shot over the goal (20′) before Augsburg increased through international Mergim Berisha (32′).
“Max is very self-confident and knows exactly what qualities he has. Of course it will piss him off that he didn’t take the penalty,” said Wimmer, adding: “It’s a matter of mentality when you’re against Augsburg after a 0:2 gets another 2:2.”
Wolfsburg – Augsburg: Nmecha equalized at the last minute
Despite the late point win, VfL’s weakness at home continues and clearly jeopardizes the European Cup ambitions. The Wolves team remained without a win in front of their home crowd for the fifth time in a row and missed the good chance to jump past Eintracht Frankfurt in sixth place.
FCA missed their fourth away win of the season, which would have been worth its weight in gold. With 29 points now, coach Enrico Maaßen’s team is getting closer and closer to staying up. The guests showed an average performance – and benefited from Wolfsburg’s usury of chances for a long time.
In the first half, the agile Wimmer in particular repeatedly came up with good prospects in final situations for the playfully superior hosts. First, the Austrian had a chance with a header (15′), before he could have scored from close range seconds before the undisputed penalty whistle.
But Rafal Gikiewicz was quick to react for Augsburg, who defended deep but not always solidly. In the 24th minute, Yannick Gerhardt hit the outside post with a head, before Wimmer tore his hair again shortly before the half-time whistle after the next top-class goal.
Kovac had a lot to talk about at half-time. And he brought another offensive power in Nmecha, who made his debut in the DFB jersey against Belgium. After the first initial swing, the wolves ran into each other again and again and ran after the deficit until the final phase. Augsburg, meanwhile, had the chance to make a decision on counterattacks.
VfL Wolfsburg – FC Augsburg: The voices
Niko Kovac (VfL Wolfsburg coach): “The game didn’t start well for us. We then had many, many chances, come into half-time and we don’t know how we can be 2-0 down. Then to win games like that, you have to take crystal-clear chances. Moral are we were the winners because we came back from a 2-0 deficit, the team showed a lot of character. I’m not entirely happy with the result either. I think we could have done more here today.”
Enrico Maassen (FC Augsburg coach): “You can see week after week that the team is developing well. In order for us to get triple points more often, you have to be clean and clear in the crucial areas. We were that up front and used our chances efficiently. Back in the two moments “Not. It’s not a good feeling with the point today. The other way around, given the chances that Wolfsburg had and the quality of this team, you have to say that a point is okay. We have one more point, which we got anyway helps and try to find something positive.”
VfL Wolfsburg – FC Augsburg: The data for the game
Wolfsburg: Casteels – Baku (60th Paredes), Lacroix, van de Ven, Paulo Otavio – Arnold – Svanberg (46th Felix Nmecha), Gerhardt (60th Wind) – Wimmer (75th Cozza), Marmoush (66th Waldschmidt), Kaminski . – Coach: Kovac
