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Wolfsburg's double goalscorer Lovro Majer in a duel with Hoffenheim's Stanley Nsoki
Photo: Cathrin Mueller / Getty Images
VfL Wolfsburg can apparently no longer win in the Bundesliga - but they can't lose either. In the home game against TSG Hoffenheim, coach Niko Kovac's team drew 2-2 (0-1), a draw for the fourth time in a row. The goals from Maximilian Beier (6th minute) and Grischa Prömel (66th) were canceled out by playmaker Lovro Majer (58th/70th).
However, VfL continues to fall short of its own expectations: they only have seven points from the last eight games and Wolfsburg are eleventh with 23 points. Hoffenheim has three points more and is in eighth place.
Hoffenheim opened the exchange with a picture-perfect counterattack: After VfL striker Jonas Wind lost the ball deep in the Hoffenheim half, Umut Tohumcu set up Beier on the left wing with a through ball. The youngster dribbled towards Sebastiaan Bornauw at great speed, was unable to be significantly disturbed by the Wolfsburg defender and finished from a tight angle (6th).
Jonas Wind gave VfL's first sign of life with a deflected shot that hit the post (19'), but the hosts still rarely developed any real forward momentum. So it happened that Kovac had already decided to make three changes by the 55th minute - the inclusion of Majer in particular was to pay off: Wind and Mattias Svanberg impressively held their own under pressure on the right wing, Svanberg's flat cross placed Kevin Behrens in the center off again. Majer, who came from Stade Rennes for 25 million euros in the summer, equalized with a low shot (58th).
Casteels makes a mistake, Majer shoots again
At first, Wolfsburg seemed to be depriving themselves of their own reward: goalkeeper Koen Casteels made a bad pass in the build-up, and the ball ended up in two stops to Prömel, who had no problems making it 2-1 (66th). In direct response, however, Majer took a penalty because Hoffenheim's Stanley Nsoki only knew how to help himself with a push in a header duel. Majer converted himself (70th) to a final score that corresponded to the course of the game.
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