VfB Stuttgart remains harmless against Wolfsburg for a long time, only rewarded at the end. The chance of direct rescue is alive, relegation is the first goal. It’s a “happy day” for VfL.
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John Anthony Brooks (2nd from right) scores for Wolfsburg. (Image: dpa)
(Photo: Tom Weller/dpa)
Stuttgart – At VfB Stuttgart there is at least a small hope of direct rescue, VfL Wolfsburg has finally secured its place in the Bundesliga.
Thanks to Joker Chris Führich’s late goal in the 89th minute to make it 1-1 (0-1) against VfL and Arminia Bielefeld’s late equalizer against Hertha BSC (1-1), Stuttgart remain in contention for non-relegation place 15 .
Difficult starting position for VfL
However, the starting position remains difficult for the Swabians, who are looking down rather than up. They are four points further behind the Berliners. With two games left. Never before has a Bundesliga club caught up so far behind the fourth-bottom of the table at this late point in the season. In addition, VfB has to go to the old and new champions FC Bayern Munich next Sunday, who may be looking for redemption after their 3-1 defeat at 1. FSV Mainz 05. The advantage over Bielefeld in relegation place 17 is two points.
“In the relegation battle, every point is important,” said Stuttgart Führich on Sky. “We’ll take it with us. Also the good feeling at the end.” His team-mate Sasa Kalajdzic was happy about the morale that VfB showed again after falling behind. But he also admitted that the draw “is a bit too little in our situation.” Coach Pellegrino Matarazzo summed it up: “What we have in hand is the relegation.” Therefore, this is now “the first goal”. Sports director Sven Mislintat also wants to “cover himself from the bottom”.
Kohfeldt happy about staying up
For VfL, however, it was “a good, happy day,” said guest coach Florian Kohfeldt, referring to the overall difficult season for Lower Saxony. The last few months have taken a lot of strength. Accordingly, he is now looking forward to staying up in the league.
Defender John Anthony Brooks gave Wolfsburg the lead in the 13th minute in front of 52,230 spectators. For a long time it looked as if VfB was only concerned with at least securing a place in the relegation round in the final two games. Substitute Führich then rewarded the hard-working but mostly harmless Swabians for their effort – and scored their first goal from open play in more than a month.
VfB fans demand action
Not only VfB coach Matarazzo wanted to see a reaction from his team after the disappointing 0:2 at Hertha last weekend – also the fans. “Actions, not empty words – show commitment and struggle!” was written on a large banner that hung in the curve during the warm-up of the players. And their efforts could not be denied to the hosts. But as in Berlin, they suffered an early setback. After a corner from Maximilian Arnold, Brooks headed in unchallenged to give Wolfsburg the lead. VfB did not remain without a goal in their 20th Bundesliga home game in a row.
A big problem for Stuttgart is also their offensive. For 40 minutes they didn’t create any danger. In the final stages of the first half, they increased the pressure a bit. The VfL defense rarely got into real trouble. This is how Wolfsburg managed their narrow lead into the break.
In the second half, the guests didn’t do much more than they had to. VfB fought for the equaliser, but continued to lack penetrating power in the last third. Centre-forward Kalajdzic was practically not a factor, Führich aimed too imprecisely with a shot (70th). Shortly before the end, however, he did better, equalizing after a cross from Enzo Millot, who was also a substitute, and brought the hope of a direct rescue back to Stuttgart.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220430-99-109028/3
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