Dhe VfL Wolfsburg took a big step towards staying in the league with a convincing 4-0 (2-0) win over Bielefeld and exacerbated Arminia’s fears of relegation. With 34 points, the Bundesliga club was able to extend its lead over the direct relegation zone to eight points on Saturday after goals from Lukas Nmecha (11th minute/38th), Maximilian Arnold (48th) and Max Kruse (53rd). Bielefeld, on the other hand, has 26 points and only one point from the past seven games to worry about remaining in the league. In addition, Cedric Brunner threatens to fail as the next professional in the long term with a head injury.
VfL managing director Jörg Schmadtke and coach Florian Kohfeldt, who had recovered from his corona infection, had demanded a reaction after the desolate performance at 0: 3 in Augsburg. There was little sign of this at the beginning. Bielefeld had a great chance to take the lead after just two minutes: Robin Hack got the ball in front of Koen Casteels in front of 22,512 spectators, but the VfL captain saved with a brilliant act.
Then came Wolfsburg’s response to the criticism: the 23-year-old converted a perfect pass from Yannick Gerhardt into the path of national player Nmecha with a shot into the far corner. The 2009 champion then appeared as if he had been replaced. Jonas Wind threw the ball under the crossbar after a nice dribble (17′).
After the early chance, there was no sign of the guests, who lined up to support Fabian Klos with his shirt number 9, who had suffered a serious head injury. The offensive around Patrick Wimmer, who is under discussion for the new season in Wolfsburg, was no longer accessible.
Then there was the next moment of shock for coach Frank Kramer’s team: VfL striker Wind and Arminia defender Brunner banged their heads after a corner. After minutes of treatment by the Arminia doctors and paramedics on the pitch, the 28-year-old Swiss was taken off the pitch on a stretcher and had to be substituted. Brunner was then taken to a hospital. Wolfsburg announced that he was conscious, and there was initially no further information about Brunner’s condition.
The guests had to recover from the repeated setback first. However, Wolfsburg did not give up and showed themselves to be better than in previous appearances in this respect as well. That was rewarded. After a corner, Gerhardt found the agile Nmecha again, who was able to head in from very short range (38′).
Bielefeld didn’t come back into the game after the break either. Wolfsburg, on the other hand, shook off the three defeats from the last three matches with every minute. Arnold curled a free kick into the corner (48th). Five minutes later, after a pass from Ridle Baku, Kruse headed in from close range to score. The game was decided long ago.
In the final minutes, Arminia complained about the next injuries. Florian Krüger had to leave the pitch, then Hack hobbled into the dressing room. Since Kramer could no longer make a change, his team had to play the botched game twice outnumbered.
