Borussia Dortmund slip to defeat against in-form Wolfsburg
Micky van de Ven and Lukas Nmecha goals bookended an action-packed game as Wolfsburg dealt a blow to Borussia Dortmund's title hopes in a deserved 2-0 win.
Wolfsburg 2-0 Borussia Dortmund
Goals: 1-0 van de Van 6’, 2-0 L. Nmecha 90'+1 (assist: Wimmer)
Wolfsburg flew out of the traps as Omar Marmoush drew a flying save from Koen Casteels. Two minutes later, the hosts were ahead. BVB failed to deal with a Maximilian Arnold corner, allowing defender Micky van de Ven to get the final touch from two yards. Dortmund mustered a response in the 20th minute when Donyell Malen forced the goalkeeper into a pair of quick-fire saves. Jonas Wind and Marmoush fired off target in furious passage of play, before Niklas Süle controlled a corner on the turn and pinged one just past the upright at the other end. The Germany international almost levelled on the stroke of half-time, but his low strike from a tight angle was beaten away by Casteels.
Niko Kovac's side were indebted to Casteels once more after the restart. The Belgian pushed a Raphael Guerreiro free-kick over the bar, before showing cat-like reactions to swat clear Youssoufa Moukoko's point-blank header from the ensuing corner. The Wolves bit back through Jonas Wind, who tested the reflexes of Gregor Kobel with a fierce shot from 10 yards. Felix Nmecha was first to the resultant corner, but couldn't beat the goalkeeper. Jakub Kaminski - whose follow-up to that earlier chance had been blocked - was then denied another clear sight of goal by Mats Hummels. Casteels thwarted a crisp Guerreiro strike, before substitutes Patrick Wimmer and Lukas Nmecha combined to seal the points in stoppage time and extend Wolfsburg's unbeaten run to seven matches.
Match stats
- Wolfsburg have recorded three to-nil wins in a row.
- Dortmund could be as many as six points behind leaders Bayern Munich come the end of the matchday.
- The Wolves ran six kilometres more than Dortmund.
- Van de Van scored his first Bundesliga goal.
- Bellingham has won more duels than any other player in the Bundesliga this season (229).
- Kovac recorded his fourth win in 10 games against Dortmund as a coach (D1, L5).
Get Van de Ven for your Fantasy team for 4M!
Watch: Gregor Kobel - 'Casteels had a great game'
Teams
Wolfsburg: Casteels - Baku, Bornauw, Van de Ven, Otavio - F. Nmecha (Svanberg 88'), Arnold (c), Gerhardt – Marmoush (Wimmer 58'), Wind (L. Nmecha 75'), Kaminski (Roussillon 88')
Unused subs: Pervan, Fischer, Lacroix, Waldschmidt, Brekalo
Out: Franjic (calf), Guilavogui (muscular), Kruse (not considered), Paredes (calf)
Coach: Niko Kovac
Dortmund: Kobel - Süle (Hazard 71'), Hummels (c), Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro - Özcan, (Pasalaic 80'), Bellingham - Adeyemi (Reyna 61'), Brandt, Malen (Modeste 70') - Moukoko
Unused subs: Meyer, Can, Passlack, Coulibaly, Papadopoulos
Out: Bynoe-Gittens (shoulder), Dahoud (shoulder), Haller (testicular cancer), Meunier (broken cheekbone), Morey (knee), Reus (ankle), Rothe (knee)
Coach: Edin Terzic
Watch: Niko Kovac 'proud' of Wolfsburg display
Related news
Matchday 15 probable teams
The Bundesliga's recently crowned November Player of the Month, Omar Marmoush, could end 2024 as the league's top scorer if he finds the net against Mainz...
Bundesliga 2, Matchday 17 overview
Kaiserslautern host promotion rivals Cologne in the pick of the year-ending fixtures in Germany's second tier...
Can clubs add to their European squads in January?
We delve into the finer points of the rule book to see what happens to new signings, injured players and previously excluded squad members...