First goals from new signing Burger
©IMAGO
The crisis at VfL Wolfsburg continues to worsen. Coach Paul Simonis is facing elimination after the 2-3 home defeat against TSG Hoffenheim. The Dutchman, who was only hired in the summer, and also the sports director Peter Christiansen have been under massive pressure since the embarrassing cup exit against Holstein Kiel. Against Hoffenheim, not even two goals from Mohamed Amoura ensured safety: an early 1-0 (14th minute) and an interim 2-2 (56th minute).
Because Wouter Burger (31st/62nd) and Grischa Prömel (50th) scored twice for the calm guests. And only 19,078 spectators in the Volkswagen Arena watched in disbelief. A fourth Hoffenheim goal by Ihlas Bebou (84th) was disallowed after a long review by the video referee.
The great frustration in Wolfsburg was already palpable after the Kiel game on Tuesday evening: Immediately afterwards, goalkeeper Marius Müller criticized the attitude and cohesion of the newly formed team. A day later, the Danish sports director gave a clear speech in the dressing room. In this atmosphere, the ailing Simonis had to fight for what was probably his last chance against Hoffenheim. And there was initially no denying a visible improvement to his much-criticized team.
The early 1-0 win even showed the much-quoted “dominance” that the Dutchman has been trying in vain to convey to his players for four months. Christian Eriksen held his own in the midfield in a duel, Mattias Svanberg skilfully played the ball up front and there Amoura elegantly rounded the opposing goalkeeper.
VfL Wolfsburg has been waiting for a home win for almost 10 months
How deep the insecurity is at VfL was shown that evening in the phases in which everything seemed to be going for him: after the 1-0, the team withdrew instead of taking this momentum with them. When the score was 1-1, both crosser Vladimir Coufal and goalscorer Burger had far too much space. And at 1:2, several defenders failed to clarify the situation. Nevertheless, Wolfsburg came back again because there is still individual class in this squad: French U21 international Sael Kumbedi prepared Amoura’s second goal.
This time VfL did not retreat. This time he just couldn’t use the momentum. Because in the 61st minute, Amoura missed the chance to score his third goal – and just a minute later it was 2:3. The wolves never recovered from this shock. All efforts to equalize again remained unplanned and harmless. VfL have now been without a win in their own stadium for almost ten months (5-1 against Gladbach in January).