VfL Wolfsburg has achieved a happy victory against VfB Stuttgart in the basement duel of the Bundesliga. The winning goal came in added time.
Breathe a sigh of relief at Nico Kovac: Thanks to Yannick Gerhardt, VfL Wolfsburg won the wild basement duel against VfB Stuttgart and thus gave their coach, who had come under criticism, some peace of mind. After a passionate performance, the wolves won 3:2 (2:2) against the Swabians and celebrated their second win of the season. Omar Marmoush (23′), captain Maximilian Arnold (38′) and Gerhardt (90′ + 1) scored for Wolfsburg, the goals of Serhou Guirassy (22′) and Konstantinos Mavropanos (45′ + 1) were not enough for Stuttgart.
With eight points now, Wolfsburg overtook Stuttgart and improved in the table, so the discussions about Kovac should at least be postponed. Meanwhile, Stuttgart is still waiting for a win after 14 Bundesliga away games across the season.
“We have to make sure that we get the three points. That would be immensely important,” Kovac said. But without their best striker to date, Lukas Nmecha (knee problems), the home side presented themselves willing, but again and again without luck after the setbacks. So it was fitting that Guirassy cleverly used Stuttgart’s first chance to take the lead.
But Wolfsburg didn’t collapse afterwards, but defended itself: 73 seconds later, Nmecha substitute Marmoush equalized after a fine combination against his former club. The Egyptian scored his first goal of the season from the edge of the box. Shortly thereafter, Arnold just tried it from around 25 meters: The national player’s left-footed shot actually fluttered into the goal. However, VfB keeper Florian Müller cut a very bad figure in the scene.
The 24,125 spectators didn’t see a high-class game, but it was quite entertaining. Because both teams made a lot of mistakes, it went back and forth. Mavropanos equalized again before the break because the Wolves defense collectively refused to work after a corner.
After that, both teams rested a bit, goal area scenes were suddenly scarce. However, Stuttgart’s Silas Katompa Mvumpa hit the bar after a solo (57th). On the other side, Jakub Kaminski (74th) sniffed the lead. So it remained exciting until the end – and Gerhardt struck.
Wolfsburg in Augsburg, Stuttgart receives Union
On the 9th matchday of the Bundesliga, VfL Wolfsburg has to play away in Augsburg (Saturday, October 8th, 2022 at 3:30 p.m.). A day later, Stuttgart is challenged at home against Union Berlin (7.30 p.m.).