Coach Ralph Hasenhüttl’s Bundesliga comeback after almost six years of absence was successful and gave VfL Wolfsburg new hope in the relegation battle. When the 56-year-old Austrian made his debut on the VfL bench, the Lower Saxony team won 2-0 (1-0) at Werder Bremen and celebrated their first win of 2024 after eleven games.
After Bremen’s Anthony Jung (43′) was shown a red card because of an emergency stop, the guests used their superiority to take the lead through Maxence Lacroix (45′). In the 78th minute, Lacroix saw red himself, also after an emergency stop. But Werder didn’t capitalize on it. On the contrary: Substitute Lovro Majer (84th) ensured the final score.
Thanks to their success, the Wolfsburg team initially moved away from the relegation places. Despite the fourth defeat in a row, Bremen are still in the secure table regions.
Wolfsburg team changed in four positions
Hasenhüttl had made four changes to the Wolfsburg team compared to Niko Kovac’s starting eleven in his last game two weeks ago. The guests were initially on equal terms with the Bremen team. Although the hosts, who were struggling in terms of personnel, had more of the game and combined well up to the opponent’s penalty area, they initially barely managed to get any shots.
VfL was different: Cédric Zesiger headed the ball onto the crossbar after a corner (7th). Bremen keeper Michael Zetterer was on hand for Yannick Gerhardt’s header (15′). After 25 minutes, coach Ole Werner’s Bremen team increased the pressure. The shot from starting eleven debutant Skelly Alvero was dangerously deflected (28th), Nick Woltemade failed due to the strong Pavao Pervan (30th), Marvin Ducksch was blocked (39th).
In the middle of their pressure phase, Bremen suffered a setback: Jung fouled Wolfsburg’s Behrens and was shown red. Shortly afterwards, Wolfsburg took advantage of their advantage when Lacroix scored from a short distance after a corner.
After the break, the guests clearly dominated the game in front of 41,500 spectators in the sold-out Weserstadion. Werder had little chance when they were outnumbered. Behrens was able to make it 2-0 just two minutes after the restart, but he missed the goal from close range.
The red card against Lacroix sparked new hope on the Bremen side. But the equal number brought nothing to the Hanseatic League. The Wolfsburg team earned their chances. Majer didn’t miss one of them and scored his fifth goal of the season.
