WHow differently than a draw should an encounter between two teams end up that have already drawn a total of 13 this season? And indeed, the dispute between VfL Wolfsburg and Frankfurter Eintracht, which started the eleventh game day of the Bundesliga on Friday, seemed to come down to 1: 1 after Dost put Hessen in the lead with a penalty (63rd minute) and Weghorst had equalized by a hand penalty (76th). But then Weghorst stole free behind Ilsanker’s back in the 88th minute and scored the Wolfsburg 2-1 winner. That largely corresponded to the course of the game. Eintracht had once again made the first half very cautious, especially playing very badly forward. After the break, the game was balanced, with the better end for Lower Saxony, who jumped to fourth place in the table.
Eintracht coach Hütter chose the most cautious option to replace Andre Silva. For the Portuguese striker, who had to pass due to muscle problems, the Austrian sent his compatriot Stefan Ilsanker onto the field, whom he calls “the clearest six we have”. In other words, Hütter considers Ilsanker to be the most defensive of his midfielders. In addition, he is one of the Frankfurt professionals with the strongest headers, which, because of the gigantic Wolfsburg center forward Weghorst, was an auxiliary argument to include the Austrian international in the starting line-up.
For Ilsanker Djibril Sow moved forward, next to Daichi Kamada behind the only point Bas Dost. That Sow, who in his year and a half in Frankfurt barely betrayed creative talent, but rather running. But the Swiss international was a positive surprise in the first half. Not that he pulled the strings, but he was always playable and involved in almost all actions that took place in the first half in the Wolfsburg half of the game. Of course there weren’t many.
20 minutes run-up
Wolfsburg was the team that determined the game, in the early stages even the dominant one. After seven minutes, the Lower Saxony had played four corners and Mbabu had dribbled through twice to the goal line in his first game of the season. The crosses of the Wolfsburg right-back did not find a teammate. In the ninth minute the aluminum saved Eintracht, Sow had deflected a shot from Schlager, the ball bounced with spin against the post.
After about 20 minutes, the Frankfurters stabilized a little, but they did not find real access in midfield. Coach Hütter had to hold his breath a few times during the first half. But since the last pass was often played imprecisely by the Wolfsburgers and the Frankfurters were lucky when they ricochets, it was hardly ever really dangerous.
Focused look: Wout Weghorst after his first hit.
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Image: AFP
The break was good for Eintracht. After just eight minutes, she managed something that she hadn’t managed at all in the first half: a move into the opposing penalty area. But Sow did not hit the ball properly after Durm’s cross. Two minutes later, Kostic made a missed shot that the Serbian would not have believed, although he touched the ball with his weaker right foot. Beautifully cleared by Kamada, Kostic lifted the ball from seven meters over the goal. Something like that usually takes revenge in football – this time not because Trapp parried excellently against Maximilian Philipp from Wolfsburg in return. And shortly afterwards it was actually 1-0 for Eintracht – thanks to the video assistant. Referee Schmidt had overlooked that Brooks had pushed his Frankfurt central defender Hinteregger in the penalty area with both hands. According to the television images, there was no doubt. Dost calmly represented the penalty taker Silva. The Dutchman delayed the shot and shot the ball easily into the center of the goal. Goalkeeper Casteels was in the left corner.
VfL was impressed by the setback. Nothing pointed to the equalizer – until Maximilian Philipp tried a cross and the ball found Ilsanker’s arm. Weghorst used the penalty in the 76th minute to make it 1: 1. Now the unity was dismayed. Just two minutes after the equalizer, Abraham had to save on the line after a Bialek header. But in the 88th minute there was nothing left to save. Weghorst scored to 2-1 for Wolfsburg.
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