VfL Wolfsburg squandered victory in a dramatic final phase

Coach is wobbling more than ever

Drama in Bremen: Wolfsburg squanders victory

For a long time it looked like a victory for Wolfsburg. Shortly before the end, Bremen equalized. Then it became spectacular.

Next bankruptcy instead of redemption – and the coach on the verge of elimination? Paul Simonis suffered another bitter defeat with the crisis club VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga and thus set a negative club record. The “Wolves” lost 1:2 (1:0) at Werder Bremen on Friday evening despite a long lead.

Jens Stage (83rd minute) and Samuel Mbangula (90th + 4th) turned the game around for the Hanseatic League with their late goals. Mattias Svanberg (28th) had previously given the ambitious Wolfsburg team the lead – but VfL collapsed in the wild final phase.

The very disappointed Wolfsburg captain Maximilian Arnold said on the Sky microphone after the final whistle: “It’s very, very bitter at the moment.” It wasn’t going in the right direction. And so coach Simonis may have to fear for his job more than ever. The Dutchman, who was only signed before the season, wanted to aim for the European Cup with Wolfsburg, but has now suffered his sixth defeat – with just eight points after ten match days, the club has equaled its historic negative record from the 2012/13 season.

At the weekend before the international break there is a risk of falling into a relegation zone. Werder, however, remained unbeaten for the fifth time in a row and climbed, at least temporarily, to seventh place in the table.

“If you don’t win any games, then there’s a lot of pressure on the coach,” Simonis said before the game. So a win was actually mandatory – but Werder had the first really good opportunity right at the start. VfL keeper Kamil Grabara just got his hands up from a header from Amos Pieper (3rd).

After that, Werder actually took command confidently, the home team sometimes pushed Wolfsburg deep into their own half – but Svanberg struck almost out of nowhere. The Swede coldly completed an attack that he had initiated himself from around eight meters to score his second goal of the season.

The goal gave Wolfsburg a boost, captain Maximilian Arnold and Co. won more duels, they acted more precisely and became more courageous. Werder, on the other hand, needed a few minutes to digest the shock of conceding a goal.