With bloody heels, but with a relieved smile, Wout Weghorst crept from the square. Also thanks to a goal from the Dutch striker, VfL Wolfsburg remained unbeaten in the fourth game under coach Florian Kohfeldt, but more than a 2: 2 (0: 1) at Arminia Bielefeld was not possible for the Champions League participant. “It was an extremely intense game,” said Weghorst on the Sky microphone when asked about his battered feet. His team-mate Maximilian Arnold praised the Lower Saxony’s morale: “Even after the 2-0 win, the belief in the point was still there.”
Masaya Okugawa (11th) and Fabian Klos (54th / foul penalty) earned Bielefeld the lead. Weghorst (62nd) and young international Lukas Nmecha (63rd) equalized for long uninspired Wolfsburg. “At times it was not as we imagine it would be,” said VfL sporting director Marcel Schäfer, also with a view to Tuesday, when the North Germans will be in the premier class at Sevilla FC.
Bielefeld’s template provider Wimmer lifts in Ronaldinho-style
The Wolfsburg defensive with the three-man chain established under Kohfeldt first had to cope with the momentum of the Bielefelder. After the first win of the season before the international break in Stuttgart, the table penultimate in front of 19 801 spectators was visibly inspired, played forward after winning the ball and kept falling behind. It paid off. In a counterattack, Patrick Wimmer, who played with a face mask after a concussion and broken nose, waited for the right moment and served Okugawa with a lob in Ronaldinho-style into the interface. It was a treat that the Japanese refined: He completed volleyball straight away – and scored the DSC’s first competitive goal against Wolfsburg after more than ten hours.
Bielefeld found even more rooms, Alessandro Schöpf dribbled another good chance to finish (17th). On the other hand, Nmecha, most recently Wolfsburg’s best, was looking for a bond with the game. The Lower Saxony had more possession of the ball, but rarely penetrated into the opposing penalty area. And when they did, the people of Bielefeld defended passionately.
After changing sides, Kohfeldt switched, Maximilian Philipp instead of Renato Steffen should put more pressure on. The approaches were worth seeing, Nmecha came to a free conclusion after a nice combination (48th). On the other side, Schöpf dribbled into the penalty area, Kevin Mbabu came too late – the actually harmless situation resulted in a penalty for Bielefeld. Sturmrecke Klos turned flat to his third goal of the season. After the 2-0 draw, VfL went on the offensive, with another attacker in Dodi Lukebakio. He prepared the connection goal – and only 85 seconds later Wolfsburg met again.