Women’s Bundesliga
As of: March 29, 2026 7:05 p.m
The winning streak of the VfL Wolfsburg footballers is broken. But the 3:3 (1:1) draw against Union Berlin was undoubtedly a perceived victory for the Lower Saxony team, who had previously been successful six times in a row.
Because the “Wolves” were already 1:3 behind and ended the wild game in the second half after national goalkeeper Stina Johannes (87th) was sent off with outfield player Janina Minge in goal. Wearing gloves and a goalkeeper jersey, the defender celebrated the late 3-3 equalizer by Judit Pujols (90+5).
Minge (45th + 1) and Camila Küver (84th) had previously been successful for VfL. Hannah Eurlings (43′), an own goal from Küver (62′) and Jenny Hipp (78′) were responsible for the guests’ goals.
“The situation at the end wasn’t good for us. Nevertheless, it showed again that everyone stands up for each other and we are able to score goals until the end. We can be proud that we made it 3-3 in the end,” Minge told NDR.
A lot of idling in the Autostadt for a long time
With a view to the Champions League second leg next Thursday (9 p.m., in the live center on NDR.de) at OL Lyonnes, VfL coach Stephan Lerch initially spared some top performers such as top scorer Lineth Beerensteyn, attacker Vivien Endemann and defender Küver. The 41-year-old had to do without the injured Alexandra Popp, Lena Lattwein and Kessya Bussy anyway.
The lack of regular staff was also noticeable to the people of Lower Saxony. The hosts tried very hard, but rarely got depth in their attacks. The same also applied to the Berlin women. The spectators in the Allerpark stadium initially saw a game without any footballing highlights.
The first chance to score only came after 29 minutes. And this should actually have led to Wolfsburg winning 1-0. But Ella Peddemors failed with her weak shot from keeper Nadine Böhi.
Bergsvand makes a mistake, Minge scores a dream goal
Afterwards, nothing happened again. Shortly before half-time, however, events came to a head: First, the Union women were able to celebrate their lead thanks to the active support of the Wolfsburg women. Keeper Johannes played to Guro Bergsvand in the penalty area, the Norwegian lost the ball while dribbling to Sophie Weidauer, who passed to Eurlings. The rest was a formality for the Belgian from close distance.
However, the newcomer’s celebration only lasted a short time. Because the “Wolves” responded to the deficit just 180 seconds later with a dream goal from Minge. The national player was successful with a volley from 16 meters.
VfL “Joker” Küver stands out – for Wolfsburg and Union
After the break, Wolfsburg’s performance was once again sluggish. Lerch responded with a triple substitution: Beerensteyn, Endemann and Küver came into the game in the 57th minute. In retrospect, the latter could have easily done without her use. Shortly after being substituted on, the 22-year-old scored an own goal with a completely unsuccessful back pass that rolled past keeper Johannes into the goal.
But that’s not all the Wolfsburg breakdowns in the Autostadt. The Lower Saxony team also helped a lot with Berlin’s third goal: when Tanja Pawollek hit a corner kick at the near post, no VfL kicker jumped up, and Hipp was able to nod in practically from a standing start to make it 3-1 for the promoted team.
But the Berliners didn’t act without mistakes either. Their defensive and tackling behavior for Wolfsburg’s second goal also needed a lot of improvement. This time Küver benefited from a lack of aggression from her opponents after a corner kick from Svenja Huth.
Johannes sees a red card, Pujols equalizes
But that’s not enough of the shortcomings in what ended up being a wild encounter. Wolfsburg went one better in this regard with Johannes. The national goalkeeper miscalculated when running out, brought Nele Baueeisen down well in front of her goal and was shown a red card. Since Lerch had already changed five times, a field player had to go between the posts. The choice fell on Minge, who from then on stood in the jersey of substitute goalkeeper Martina Tufeković – and, unlike her predecessor Johannes, did not concede a goal.
What’s more: Minge was even able to celebrate the equalizer with her teammates: After a cross to the far post, Pujols artistically maneuvered the ball into the net to make it 3-3.
