Missed fourth win in a row
©IMAGO
With a spectacular home win, VfL Wolfsburg stormed into a Europa League place for the first time this Bundesliga season. After falling behind three times, the Lower Saxony team won 4:3 (1:2) against FSV Mainz 05 on Sunday. Substitute Dane Jonas Wind scored in the 84th minute to make it 3:3 and then even in the fourth minute of stoppage time to an acclaimed victory. First this goal had to be checked by the video referee, then the final whistle followed.
After this spectacle, the 5-1 win at RB Leipzig and reaching the DFB Cup quarter-finals in just one week, the Wolves are now unbeaten in eight competitive games. For their part, Mainz could have jumped to fifth place. Shortly before the end, their series of three wins in a row ended.
In front of 20,036 spectators, Paul Nebel (11th/66th minute) and Jonathan Burkardt (39th) scored for the guests. The Wolfsburg answers were given by Mohammed Amoura (19th), Tiago Tomás (58th) and the super joker Wind (84th/90th + 4).
With his tenth goal of the season, Burkardt became Mainz’s new Bundesliga record goalscorer. With 33 first division goals, the 24-year-old has drawn level with the Austrian Karim Onisiwo in the club’s internal ranking. The “Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung” had previously called this game the “good mood duel of the league” given the successful streaks of both teams. And these expectations were not disappointed.
Mainz were initially the better team in terms of play and deservedly took the lead after VfL captain Maximilian Arnold lost the ball. But the reality of the first half hour also included: 05 defender Danny da Costa had to be replaced injured in the fifth minute. Unlike Mainz, the Wolves were unable to confirm their strong performances from previous games for a long time. There wasn’t much left of this team’s energy and intensity for a half.
Mainz’s new opening goal at least got the VfL fans excited. After a duel with Hanche-Olsen, Amoura was left lying in his own half, and the goal came from this scene. But contrary to what the spectators wanted to perceive, the Norwegian had the ball and not played a foul.
It was all the more remarkable that VfL fought their way back into this game despite repeated deficits and the long cup week. The substitution Wind played a part in this again. The Dane is dissatisfied with his joker role – but, as he did during the week, he used it perfectly in the 3-0 win in the DFB Cup against 1899 Hoffenheim. His entry created Wolfsburg’s first phase of pressure right at the start of the second half. Shortly before the end he scored the 3:3 after preparatory work by his compatriot Joakim Maehle, and later even the 4:3. This should increase his market value at international clubs even further.