Dhe VfL Bochum suffered a severe setback in the relegation battle. The Revierclub deservedly lost 5-1 (3-0) to VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday. Bochum is only two points ahead of the relegation rank and still has to worry about staying in the Bundesliga. Wolfsburg, on the other hand, can have greater hopes of a place in the European Cup with 43 points.
Mattias Svanberg (10th/56th minute), Jakub Kaminski (21st), Patrick Wimmer (33rd) and Luca Waldschmidt (77th) scored the goals for the brilliant Lower Saxony. Unlike Wolfsburg, the hosts were harmless in attack in front of 24,834 spectators in the Ruhr Stadium and did not get into the duels at the back as usual. Substitute Moritz Broschinski only managed the consolation goal (68th).
“The fans always have a good feeling when we still played a good game,” said Bochum’s Simon Zoller afterwards on Sky: “We conceded brutal goals, they took advantage of every mistake. That’s why it was more than deserved that we lost.”
Bochum’s coach Thomas Letsch once again emphasized the importance of the game in a Sky interview before the game: A win would have been a small liberation. His team also went into the game with great commitment, had the first chance through Simon Zoller, but then suffered an early setback. Wolfsburg’s Wimmer crossed from the right into the middle, where Svanberg escaped the Bochum defense and headed the ball over the goal line from close range.
And it quickly got even better for the guests: After an intercepted Bochum attack, Wolfsburg countered at high speed. The Lower Saxony didn’t let themselves be stopped by a tactical foul on Wimmer and increased the lead to 0:2 through Kaminski. Letsch did not agree with the performance of his defense at all. The Bochum coach replaced right-back Jordi Osei-Tutu with Cristian Gamboa in the 24th minute.
At least the morale is right in Bochum
As a result, his team was not able to really improve. With their playful superiority, the Wolfsburg team repeatedly put themselves in good final positions. They were efficient in front of goal and sometimes just luckier than their relegation-threatened opponents. Bochum’s Patrick Osterhage deflected a shot from the strong Wimmer into goalkeeper Manuel Riemann and it was already 0:3. Philipp Hofmann failed with the best chance of the hosts in the first round on the post.
What was right with Bochum was morale. Despite the large deficit, VfL started the second half with a lot of momentum and also had chances to score. Central defender Erhan Masovic couldn’t get the ball past Wolfsburg keeper Koen Casteels from close range.
With the guests, on the other hand, almost everything went well. Svanberg actually shot harmlessly at the Bochum goal, but goalkeeper Riemann slipped up. The game was finally decided with the fourth Wolfsburg goal. Broschinski’s Bochum goal didn’t change that. Wolfsburg’s Waldschmidt finished the game. The 26-year-old scored after Jonas Wind had chipped a penalty kick on the crossbar. “We’ve proven again and again that we’re more than entitled to play in this league,” said Bochum’s Zoller: “Check it out, we’ll continue next week. Such defeats do not knock us down.”