Borussia Dortmund lost two points to crisis club VfL Wolfsburg in the race for the Champions League places in the Bundesliga. Despite an early lead, the fourth-placed team only managed a 1-1 (1-0) draw in the arena on Saturday.
After the goals from Niclas Füllkrug (8th minute) and Yannick Gerhardt (64th minute), both clubs’ series held this year: BVB has remained unbeaten since the winter break and VfL is still winless. But while Dortmund were somewhat slowed down before their Champions League round of 16 at PSV Eindhoven, the deserved result and a convincing performance at Wolfsburg were enough to keep their much-criticized coach Niko Kovac in office.
At VfL, week after week, the question is what the club management gives more weight to: that their team, which started the season as European Cup contenders, only won two of the last 16 games in the Bundesliga? Or that the commitment and motivation of the Wolfsburg players were right this time too?
What often happens to teams in ailing condition also happened to VfL this time in front of 28,917 spectators: they went into the game with a lot of courage and enthusiasm and then conceded the 0-1 at the first opponent’s attack. Marco Reus was completely free on the left side. Wolfsburg keeper Koen Casteels directed his shot on goal directly onto the thigh of Dortmund goal scorer Füllkrug.
Tennis balls also fly in Wolfsburg
The Wolfsburg team needed some time to collect themselves after this setback. But they were helped by a total of four short interruptions caused by the tennis ball-throwing VfL fans in the first half with their protests against the planned investor entry into the German Football League.
Dortmund’s left defense with Ian Maatsen, who was very error-prone this time, repeatedly proved to be a gateway for Wolfsburg’s attacks. But from the Lower Saxony perspective, something always went wrong at the last moment: once the ball slipped over the forehead of the American Kevin Paredes in the best header position (27th). Dortmund defenders twice blocked a cross pass from Mattias Svanberg in the penalty area (45th+3/45th+7). Kevin Behrens missed VfL’s best chance when he hit the post in stoppage time in the first half (45th + 8th).
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After the break, the BVB fans took over throwing the tennis balls. This time, the next short interruptions did not change the course of the game. The Wolfsburg team continued to push for the equalizer. And this time also with success. For the second time that afternoon, Dortmund’s Reus prepared a goal, this time producing a header in his own penalty area followed by a scrum, from which substitute Gerhardt headed in to make it 1-1.
Dortmund’s game, which was a bit sleepy at times, picked up the pace again after this equalizer. Despite Wolfsburg’s massive resistance, BVB became a little more dominant again in the last 20 minutes. Julian Brandt missed the best chance to win with a free kick in stoppage time.
