FFor TSG 1899 Hoffenheim things will get tight again in the fight against relegation from the Bundesliga. The table-14. lost 2-1 (0-1) at VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday and missed the great opportunity to move away from the last three places against a harmless opponent. The previous penultimate VfL Bochum came within a point of Hoffenheim on this third-to-last matchday. VfB Stuttgart can do the same on Sunday.
In front of 22,617 spectators, Jakub Kaminski headed the 1-0 for VfL in the 15th minute. Former Hoffenheim player Luca Waldschmidt scored a second goal fifteen minutes before the end (75′). The 2:1 through an own goal by Josuha Guilavogui only came in added time (90+3).
The Wolfsburg team only did what was absolutely necessary and still made a big step towards international competition. Not only participation in the Conference League, but even in the Europa League is still possible, since Niko Kovac’s team pushed the Stuttgart opponent Bayer Leverkusen from sixth place for the time being.
The afternoon held a number of annoyances for TSG right from the start. Instead of the Hoffenheim anthem, the SC Freiburg song was played before the game to welcome the away fans. They whistled, the stadium management apologized – and put on the right song just in time before kick-off.
Dabbur forgives freely in front of the goal
After the warm-up, Dennis Geiger, who was originally intended for the starting XI, stayed in the dressing room because of back problems. And with the first big chance of the game, the Hoffenheim supporters tore their hair again. Because a nice flick from Andrej Kramaric flew from 18 meters only to the crossbar of the Wolfsburg goal (7th).
Hoffenheim also owed their four wins in the previous seven games to the courage of their coach Pellegrino Matarazzo. Because the 45-year-old also plays very offensively in the fight against relegation by pulling attackers like Kramaric or Ihlas Bebou back into midfield. The Wolfsburg opening goal showed that this can also be a risk: Bebou gave his opponent Kaminski as much space after a cross from Ridle Baku as he could only dream of in opposing penalty areas.
TSG was suddenly behind in a game that they controlled against weak “Wolves” for a long time. The second good chance of the first half was missed in the 41st minute by long-time Wolfsburg player John Anthony Brooks after a corner kick.
The 30-year-old American left VfL 2022 after five years because he actually wanted to assert himself in the English Premier League. The defender has now returned to his old homeland with TSG Hoffenheim. At Benfica Lisbon he could not assert himself in the first half of the season. In Hoffenheim he is playing on loan for the time being.
While Brooks was to his credit for not expecting to get the ball when he took a corner kick from close range, there were no mitigating circumstances for TSG striker Munas Dabbur shortly after the break. The 30-year-old Israeli took the ball from the foot of the all too careless VfL captain Maximilian Arnold near the penalty area and ran in a central position alone towards the VfL goal. Completely unchallenged, however, Dabbur shot over instead of on the box (57th).
The guests never recovered from this wasted opportunity. Wolfsburg took control and in the end showed exactly the efficiency that Hoffenheim lacked.
