Frankfurt / Main (dpa) – The jubilation at VfL Wolfsburg after the liberation in Frankfurt was great. With the 2-0 (1-0) win at Eintracht on Saturday, in front of 10,000 spectators, Lower Saxony took another step out of the sporting crisis and at the same time put a severe damper on the international ambitions of the Hessians. “A win like this is extremely important for us after such a difficult time,” said lead shooter Max Kruse.
The winter new signing scored a penalty kick in the 28th minute before joker Dodi Lukebakio (90+3) finally made the second win in a row perfect in added time. Previously, VfL, which initially pulled away from the danger zone of the Bundesliga with 27 points, had not been able to win eleven games. After the third home defeat in a row, the Hessians are still stuck in the middle of the table with 31 points. “It’s disappointing,” said Eintracht coach Oliver Glasner about the defeat against his former club. “We were dominant and still ended up empty-handed.”
Eintracht started energetically even without winger Filip Kostic, who initially only sat on the bench after recovering from illness, and created a few opportunities in the early stages. First Kristijan Jakic was blocked at the last moment, then the midfielder only hit the side netting. At first there was little to see from Wolfsburg offensively. Only after a good 20 minutes did the Lower Saxony approach the Eintracht goal for the first time. However, Maxence Lacroix’s shot missed the target by two meters.
Then came the first excitement. Kruse was knocked down on the edge of the penalty area by Martin Hinteregger, who was standing in for the injured Frankfurt defender Makoto Hasebe. Referee Frank Willenborg initially gave a free kick, but the video cellar in Cologne switched on. According to the video images, there was a penalty, which Kruse coldly turned into the VfL lead.
“It was a 50:50 situation. If the referee had known it was in the penalty area, he probably wouldn’t have whistled. So he had to decide on a penalty. That was lucky for us,” said Kruse. The 33-year-old is only the second player in Bundesliga history to score from the point for four different clubs. Only Stefan Kuntz was able to do this before him.
Frankfurt seemed shocked for a few minutes, but then put a lot of pressure on towards the end of the first half. Jesper Lindström (41′) had a great chance to equalize after a fine solo, but he was denied by VfL goalkeeper Koen Casteels. After the change, the picture was the same. Eintracht made the game but couldn’t find a gap in Wolfsburg’s defence.
Glasner, who only came to the Main from Wolfsburg last summer, reacted and sent Kostic onto the pitch after just over an hour. Despite intensive efforts, the hosts did not have any great opportunities. “We didn’t score any goals. That was the shortcoming today,” summarized goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
Rather, the guests repeatedly put fine pinpricks. Lukebakio (78′) initially missed the second goal by a few centimeters with a shot, which he then managed to score from a tight angle shortly before the end. The rest was exuberant cheering.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220212-99-97755/4
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