TSG squander lead twice in draw in Wolfsburg
Line-ups
Head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo made two changes to the starting line-up compared to the 1-1 draw against 1. FC Heidenheim: Umut Tohumcu began in place of the suspended Florian Grillitsch, while Ozan Kazak returned from his suspension and started in place of Kevin Akpoguma.
The scenario
TSG Hoffenheim went into the matchday in eighth place with 25 points on the board, while VfL Wolfsburg were three points behind in 11th position.
Moment of the match
The goal for 2-2: TSG had only just gone back in front thanks to Grischa Prömel's goal (66) when Lovro Majer converted a penalty awarded for a foul to level the scores (70).
Number of the game: 46
Only 46 seconds after their introduction from the bench, Robert Skov and Ihlas Bebou played a major part in Hoffenheim's second goal, which Prömel scored after the Dane had won the ball back and the Togolese had set him up.
Double landmark of the day
Ozan Kabak was making his 100th Bundesliga appearance. In addition, the match in Wolfsburg was the Türkiye international's 50th competitive appearance in a TSG Hoffenheim shirt.
Outlook
TSG Hoffenheim will be in action on Sunday next weekend too. Then they will be – fittingly given it is Carnival weekend – up against 1. FC Köln at the PreZero Arena. Kick-off is at 17:30 CET.
Stats
Line-ups:
VfL Wolfsburg: Casteels – Maehle (Baku, 55), Bornauw, Jenz, Rogerio – Arnold, Vranckx (Majer, 55) – Cerny (Svanberg, 46), Paredes – Wind, Behrens (Pejcinovic, 84)
TSG Hoffenheim: Baumann – Kadeřábek, Ozan Kabak, Brooks, Nsoki – Stach, Prömel, Tohumcu (Skov, 65) – Kramarić (Conté, 86) – Weghorst (Bebou, 65), Beier (Bülter, 90+3)
Goals: 0-1 Beier (6), 1-1 Majer (58), 1-2 Prömel (66), 2-2 Majer (70, pen.)
Match highlights
Early lead for TSG!
After regaining possession, Tohumcu quickly feeds Beier. The TSG striker dances past Bornauw and then nutmegs Casteels – 1-0 to Hoffenheim!
Wind strikes the post
The first good chance for Wolfsburg. Cerny initially cuts into the middle and lays it off to Paredes. He finds Wind, who takes control of the ball with his back to goal and hits the post with a shot on the turn.
Wind denied by Baumann
Wolfsburg attack down the left this time. Paredes finds Wind, but the Dane is denied by the very quick reactions of Baumann. Important save!
Weghorst tests Casteels
Kramaric curls in a free-kick from a deeper position and Weghorst heads the ball towards goal but Casteels shoots an arm up into the air and tips the ball over the crossbar.
Wolfsburg level
TSG defend too passively and get punished: the ball is played from the right into the middle to Behrens, who lays it off and Majer - who had only come on two minutes earlier - fires into the bottom left corner.
Prömel re-establishes lead
Having only just come on, the two new faces team up to re-establish the advantage! After a misplaced pass from Casteels, Skov intercepts the ball and finds Bebou, who lays it off to Prömel. His shot takes a deflection and flies unstoppably into the net.
Another equaliser
Majer is pushed by Nsoki before taking a shot and is awarded a penalty kick. He comfortably converts to level up the scores once again.
Strong save from Baumann
Svanberg pulls the trigger from distance and it takes an extremely dangerous deflection off Brooks, but Baumann gets down to the corner under threat and saves.