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Leverkusen’s Joker Paulinho (l) stabbed in Wolfsburg. (Image: dpa)
(Photo: Swen Pförtner/dpa)
Wolfsburg – Joker Paulinho gave Bayer Leverkusen a lucky break three days after being eliminated from the Europa League.
Shortly after his substitution, the Brazilian shot the third in the Bundesliga with his goals in the 86th and 2nd minute of added time to make it 2-0 (0-0) at VfL Wolfsburg. In the varied game in front of 16,554 spectators, both teams had previously missed numerous scoring chances. The Wolfsburg failed twice because of the aluminum and the good-humoured Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky.
For Leverkusen it is the first win after four games in all competitions without a win. After the 1-1 draw at leaders FC Bayern Munich, coach Gerardo Seoane’s team lost twice in the Europa League to Atalanta Bergamo and in the Bundesliga to 1. FC Köln. Wolfsburg remains in twelfth place in the table despite the defeat.
Forced Changes
Due to numerous personnel problems, Seoane had replaced his team in four positions compared to the 0-1 draw against Bergamo. The third in the table started with Odilon Kossounou on the defensive and Robert Andrich in midfield. Karim Bellarabi and Sardar Azmoun, who made his debut in a competitive game, started in attack.
Lukas Nmecha, who was nominated for the international matches against Israel and the Netherlands, made his debut this year at VfL Wolfsburg. The striker replaced Maximilian Philipp, who was still on the pitch in the recent 2-3 draw against SC Freiburg.
Before the game, Seoane had lamented the usury of his team’s chances in the defeats against Bergamo (2:3, 0:1) and 1. FC Köln (0:1). “Unfortunately, we weren’t effective enough in front of the goal,” said the Swiss on the DAZN streaming service. The Werkself continued the series against Wolfsburg in the early stages. After an excellent pass from Kerem Demirbay, Amine Adli was completely free in front of VfL goalkeeper Pavao Pervan and shot the ball meters high over the goal.
Hradecky saves
The hosts tried to prevent the Bayer team’s combination game by interfering early on. VfL earned a free kick, which Maximilian Arnold shot at the goal with force and curl from around 30 meters. Bayer keeper Lukas Hradecky prevented the deficit with a brilliant save in the 23rd minute and deflected the ball to the crossbar.
With the momentum of chances, the Wolfsburg team increased and were the game-determining team for long stretches. The Lower Saxony looked much fresher and more keen on tackling than the Leverkusen team with their two English weeks in their bones. Without their midfield mastermind, Wirtz, the guests lacked brilliant ideas to playfully push the powerful hosts onto the defensive.
Ten minutes into the second half, the post prevented the more passive Wolfsburg team from taking the lead when Jonas Wind shot. Leverkusen played more purposefully, but kept getting stuck in the hosts’ defence, especially since there was often a lack of precision when passing the ball. Only the substitute Paulinho broke the spell after a nice solo and then put together a brace.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220320-99-602564/3
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