Wout Weghorst spot on as 10-man Wolfsburg snatch a point at Union Berlin
Union Berlin came from behind to lead 10-man Wolfsburg 2-1, but conceded a penalty that Wout Weghorst converted to earn the Wolves a draw between two top-six teams in the capital.
Union Berlin 2-2 Wolfsburg
Goals: 0-1 Steffen (10'), 1-1 Becker (29'), 2-1 Andrich (52'), 2-2 Weghorst (pen. 65')
Red card: Arnold (51')
Wolfsburg put the pressure on their hosts immediately, and it soon paid off. After a series of corners, they found the route to goal via the smallest man on the field, with Renato Steffen leaping higher than anybody to head in Maximilian Arnold's latest set-piece. Sheraldo Becker had an immediate opportunity to reply, but after doing all the hard work in beating the on-rushing Koen Casteels, he placed his shot wide of an unguarded goal. The Union forward made up for that miss by scoring from a much more difficult position and angle, though, firing an unstoppable shot into the top right-hand corner to level on the half-hour mark. Both sides ended the half with good chances to take the lead, but neither Yannick Gerhardt, who was teed up well by Weghorst only to be denied by Andreas Luthe, nor Taiwo Awoniyi, who headed wide of Casteels' goal, could supply a second goal for their teams.
Arnold's game ended just five minutes into the second half when he was shown a red card for a foul on Awoniyi as he entered the penalty area. The original decision to award a penalty was amended to a free-kick following a VAR check, but the extra distance and presence of a wall did not bother Robert Andrich, who curled his effort into the top left-hand corner to give Union the lead. The hosts had the ball in the back of the net again, direct from Christopher Trimmel's corner, but Awoniyi impeded Casteels on his line and the goal did not stand. The 10 men of Wolfsburg responded well as a Josip Brekalo shot struck Marcus Ingvartsen's arm, with a VAR review leading to the awarding of a penalty, which Weghorst swept in for his 10th goal of the season.
Match stats
- Union have gone unbeaten in their five league games since Max Kruse's injury (W2, D3).
- The capital club have yet to suffer defeat to a team in the top half of the table, and are unbeaten at home in their last seven Bundesliga matches.
- Despite being just 5'6" (1.70m), Steffen has scored almost half of his Bundesliga goals (6 from 13) with his head.
- Three of Andrich's four goals this season have come from outside the penalty area - more than any other player in the Bundesliga.
- Only Bayern Munich have scored more (46) than Union's 31 Bundesliga goals this season.
- Weghorst's goal was Wolfsburg's 500th away goal in the Bundesliga; he had failed to score in each of his last three league games having netted at least once in each of his five outings before that.
Watch: Weghorst: "The celebration was for my little one at home"
Line-ups
Union: Luthe - Knoche, Friedrich, Hübner - Trimmel (c), Andrich, Griesbeck (Ryerson 86'), Lenz - Becker (Bülter 78'), Ingvartsen (Gogia 86') – Awoniyi (Teuchert 77')
Unused subs: Karius, Maciejewski, Endo, Gießelmann
Out: Gentner (muscular), Kruse (thigh), Pohjanpalo (ankle), Prömel (suspended), Schlotterbeck (thigh), Ujah (knee)
Coach: Urs Fischer
Wolfsburg: Casteels (c) - Baku (William 90'+4), Pongracic (Guilavogui 46'), Brooks, Otavio - Gerhardt, Arnold - Steffen, Schalger, Brekalo (Mbabu 66') – Weghorst
Unused subs: Kasten, Mehmedi, Bialek, Ginczek, Siersleben, Joao Victor
Out: Lacroix (not included), Pervan (not included), Philipp (not included), Roussillon (not included)
Coach: Oliver Glasner
Watch: Becker: "My kids love Spider-Man, so I do it"
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