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Wolfsburg dominated from the start
Both teams started with the same starting eleven as in the previous game. Wolfsburg coach Oliver Glasner relied on the same starting lineup for the sixth time in a row. Lower Saxony, who had advanced to become Champions candidates, showed their ambitions in the opening minutes of the match, controlled and dominated the game. Bielefeld could barely cope with the sometimes very aggressive pressure from Wolfsburg.
The superiority of the “Lobos” initially was not reflected on all scoring occasions. Just a Kevin Mbabu header from Maximilian Arnold’s corner kick provided a brief adrenaline rush, but Bielefelder’s goal (17th) missed.
It was another twelve minutes before VfL reaped the first benefit from their efforts and broke Bielefeld’s defense, which had been solid until then. Yannick Gerhardt, who was sent from far down the right by Ridle Baku, conceded flat in the fifth, where Steffen only had to push in free position (29th). Michel Vlap, who was still so impressive in the game against Bayern Munich, could have turned the game around immediately after, but standing in front of Wolfsburg’s goal, the Bielefeld player did not hit the ball properly.
Hit one-two after the break
The Wolfsburg side were unable to turn their dominance into more goals, but then quickly made a clear start to the second half. After Arnold’s free kick, Wout Weghorst brought the ball straight into Bielefeld’s goal, where goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, who was so strong this season so far, slid the ball out of his arms, right in front of Bielefeld’s feet. Steffen, who just had to dust off. out to score his second goal (47.).
Bielefeld’s last hopes that the game could still be turned around were shattered a little later by Arnold, who shot from 18 yards and got the ball perfectly into the left corner. Despite Arminen still engaged and a good header from Fabian Klos (77th), the guests finished the match without problems thanks to their defensive strength.
Before Friday night’s game on the first anniversary of the racist attack in Hanau, the clubs thought of the deaths with a brief gesture. The captains of the two teams, Fabian Klos and Koen Casteels, together displayed a poster at the Bielefeld stadium with the inscription “Never forget!”. Both clubs also tweeted the names of the victims on Friday. “These names are more important today than our starting grid”, wrote the VfL.
Bielefeld has to compete at Borussia Dortmund on Saturday (3:30 pm), at the same time as Wolfsburg Hertha BSC.
