VfL Wolfsburg experienced a catastrophic evening against Werder Bremen. Ralph Hasenhüttl‘s team completely falls apart after taking the lead. Patrick Wimmer is thrown off the pitch shortly after being substituted on.
SV Werder has extended VfL Wolfsburg’s home curse in the Bundesliga and extended its own successful streak away from home this season. With the 4:2 (1:1) win against Lower Saxony, earned thanks to a strong second half, Bremen celebrated their third win in their fourth away game and jumped to eighth place in the table after the seventh matchday. The Wolfsburg team have been waiting for a sense of success in the home arena for more than five months.
Tiago Tomás (19th) gave the hosts the lead with a curious goal in front of 28,917 spectators. Shortly before the break, Bremen equalized through Mitchell Weiser (45th + 5). After the break Werder could no longer be stopped. Felix Agu (51st), Marvin Ducksch (67th) and Marco Grüll (72nd) scored the deserved victory. Wolfsburg’s Patrick Wimmer (68th) was shown a red card for serious foul play just three minutes after being substituted on. Wolfsburg’s Joakim Maehle (79th) put the final point.
Bremen got off to a better start and dominated the game in the early stages. They tried again and again to quickly bridge the midfield. After just a few seconds, Marco Grüll squandered a scoring opportunity for the guests. The shot of his Austrian compatriot Romano Schmid (4th) was deflected.
Gradually the hosts also found their way into the game. Jakub Kaminski’s (13th) shot attempt from 20 meters went over the goal. Wolfsburg’s lead thanks to Tomás’ goal six minutes later was aided by a mistake by Werder’s goalkeeper Michael Zetterer.
He didn’t hit the ball fully after a corner from Maximilian Arnold. His defenders couldn’t clear it, Tomás pushed the ball into the goal with his backheel. Lower Saxony’s sixth goal of the season after a standard situation.
The VfL leadership was surprising at the time. But coach Ralph Hasenhüttl’s team earned the 1-0 win afterwards. The more dangerous actions came from the “wolves”. In particular, the Algerian Mohammed Amoura – Wolfsburg’s best preparer – caused quite a stir. Kaminski (40th) failed from a promising position after Amoura’s assist to Werder’s goalkeeper Zetterer.
When it looked like Wolfsburg would take the lead at halftime, Bremen equalized through Weiser. At that point, Wolfsbug’s captain Maximilian Arnold was no longer on the field.
VfL captain Arnold injured and suspended
The midfielder was injured when he fell after a header duel. Because, in referee Daniel Schlager’s opinion, he left the pitch too slowly, he received his fifth yellow card (42nd) and is suspended for the next game. Bremen were also forced to change. Defender Anthony Jung injured his right thigh and was replaced by Amos Pieper.
Werder came out of the dressing room with momentum. Marvin Ducksch (48th) miserably missed the chance to take the lead while standing alone. Three minutes later he was involved in making it 2-1 with a one-two with Grüll. The Austrian failed because of Kamil Grabara’s strong reaction, and when Agu’s follow-up shot the ball slipped under the body of the VfL goalkeeper and into the goal.
The game became wilder and more entertaining. Wolfsburg pushed, Werder countered – and how. First Ducksch, who had been unlucky until then, scored (67th), and a little later Grüll, who was getting better and better, also scored (72nd). When he scored, Wolfsburg were already outnumbered after the Wimmer red. Maehle’s goal to make it 2:4 only made the result a little more bearable for Wolfsburg.
rc/dpa
