Arminia Bielefeld is staggering toward second-class status and can already be relegated from the Bundesliga this weekend. The weak penultimate table lost at VfL Bochum on Friday evening after an own goal by George Bello in the 89th minute deservedly 1: 2 (1: 1). If VfB Stuttgart wins on Sunday at FC Bayern Munich, who are already champions, Arminia will be relegated to the Bundesliga for the eighth time.
The Stuttgarters are two points ahead of Bielefeld’s ten games in a row without a win on the relegation rank. The shockingly harmless East Westphalians in Bochum can no longer make it directly into the class. The play-offs against the third in the second division are the last hope. In front of 25,000 spectators, Sebastian Polter gave Bochum, who had already been saved before the game, the lead for the first time in the 22nd minute. Joakim Nilsson (35th) only managed to equalize for Bielefeld in the meantime. After staying in the league thanks to the 4:3 win at Borussia Dortmund on the previous day and the celebrations that followed, Bochum promised that they would also give their all against Bielefeld. One is obliged to deliver a good performance at home in the last home game and to say thank you somewhere for the support of the current season, assured sports director Sebastian Schindzielorz in the streaming service Dazn. “A lot is at stake again at other clubs and we want to do everything we can to deliver a decent result.”
The surprising equalizer only silenced Bochum’s fans for a moment
The hosts then started furiously. In the first eight minutes, Sebastian Polter, Takuma Asano and twice Gerrit Holtmann had good chances, but without hitting the goal. The Arminen, on the other hand, acted cautiously as planned. Interim coach Marco Kostmann had announced that they “didn’t want to run into a knife like a hooray”. But he certainly hadn’t imagined it to be as defensive and weak as Bielefeld.
Again and again Bochum came dangerously in front of the Arminia goal, in which goalkeeper Stefan Ortega prevented an early deficit with brilliant saves against shots from Holtmann and Milos Pantovic again. In the 22nd minute, however, he too was powerless: Polter headed a cross from Pantovic into the goal for a well-deserved lead, while Ortega only saved the ball from behind the line.
While the Bielefeld supporters mainly attracted attention with masses of pyrotechnics burning, the VfL fans sang and celebrated without interruption from the start of the game – up to the 35th minute. Nilsson headed a Gonzalo Castro free-kick into the Bochum goal for a surprising equalizer and temporarily silenced the VfL supporters. The Swede had also scored the late goal to make it 1-1 against Hertha BSC in the previous week. As the season progressed, Bochum lost momentum and Bielefeld became much more present. The second half was much more balanced than the first. However, Bielefeld’s attackers lacked the necessary precision to embarrass Bochum’s defence. For their part, VfL had more possession, but couldn’t capitalize on it – until in the final minute Bielefeld’s Bello shot Bochum to victory with an own goal. Arminia receives RB Leipzig on the last day of the game – then possibly as relegated.