Late Gerhardt strike against Augsburg leaves Wolfsburg fifth over the winter break
Yannick Gerhardt hit a late winner for Wolfsburg in a topsy-turvy game at Augsburg to leave the Wolves fifth over the winter break.
Goals: 0-1 Guilavogui (33’), 0-2 William (41’), 1-2 Khedira (49’), 2-2 Cordova (59’), 2-3 Gerhardt (89’)
The home side started much the brighter in the rain at the WWK Arena with 15 minutes of dominance, but no reward beyond a few shots on goal. The balance of play then swung towards the Wolves for the next quarter of an hour with Wout Weghorst heading just over and then seeing an effort from the edge of the box take a slight deflection of Kevin Danso onto the base of the post. Augsburg enjoyed another brief spell immediately after with Michael Gregoritsch and Rani Khedira both firing off target, but it was Wolfsburg who made the breakthrough from a corner when John Brooks flicked the ball into the path of captain Josuha Guilavogui to tap in for his second goal in as many games. The Wolves then struck again before half-time with full-back William nestling a shot from the edge of the box in the bottom corner.
Manuel Baum reacted to the first-half performance with two changes at the break, and Augsburg immediately got a goal back through Khedira after a cross from the right ricocheted inside the box. One of those substitutes, Cordova, then wiped out the Wolves’ lead completely as he got his head onto Jonathan Schmid’s cross to level the score at 2-2. Like they did in the first half, Wolfsburg took a while to get going in the second 45 minutes. It wasn’t until the 80th minute that they finally looked like testing Andreas Luthe in the Augsburg goal, but Admir Mehmedi blasted over from a tight angle and Gerhardt curled one into the goalkeeper’s arms. The latter then turned home the winner in the 89th minute to break Augsburg hearts and move Wolfsburg up to fifth in the table.
Match stats
- Wolfsburg have now won just four of their 15 Bundesliga matches against Augsburg. They only have a lower win percentage against Bayern (9%) and Dortmund (21%) than Augsburg (27%).
- William scored his first Bundesliga goal in his 38th game. It was his 20th shot on goal in the German top flight.
- All four of Cordova’s Bundesliga goals have come as a substitute.
- Augsburg have scored a league-high seven goals from headers (same as Bayern).
- Manuel Baum’s side are without a win in eight and have picked up just three points in that time, only promoted Nuremberg fewer (two).
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Line-ups
Augsburg: Luthe – Schmid, Gouweleeuw, Danso, Stafylidis (Framberger 83’) – Khedira, Baier (c) – Koo, Gregoritsch (Cordova 46’), Richter (Hahn 46’) – Finnbogason
Unused subs: Giefer, Moravek, Callsen-Bracker, Ji
Out: Janker (heel), Jakob (ankle), Jensen (hip), Max (ankle)
Coach: Manuel Baum
Wolfsburg: Casteels – William, Knoche, Brooks, Itter – Gerhardt, Guilavogui (c), Arnold (Rexhbecaj 65’) – Mehmedi (Steffen 83’) – Weghorst, Ginczek
Unused subs: Pervan, Uduokhai, Verhaegh, Klaus, Malli
Out: Azzaoui (knee), Brekalo (concussion), Camacho (ankle), Tisserand (thigh)
Coach: Bruno Labbadia
Augsburg 2-3 Wolfsburg: As it happened!
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