The wind saves Wolfsburg – Bochum threatens to fall to sixteenth place

Wolfsburg can breathe easy. Ralph Hasenhuttl's side won the Bundesliga basement duel against VfL Bochum 1-0 (1-0) and moved further away from the relegation zone. Bochum may slide into this position after its eighth consecutive match without a win on Sunday. The impact of the change of coach in the second match under the leadership of Heiko Butcher was also absent.

But Hasenhuttl celebrated his second success in his fourth match as Wolfsburg coach. Jonas Wind (43rd) took on Lower Saxony, which has lost five of its last six matches. This was VfL's first home win of the year.

Wolfsburg immediately took the lead and pressed for the early lead. A header from Sebastian Bornau missed the goal (10th). After a quarter of an hour, the visitors loosened their grip slightly and had longer periods of possession of the ball. Patrick Osterhag wasted the first opportunity (28).

Wolfsburg were now increasingly losing track of things. Goalkeeper Pavao Pervan saved Takuma Asano from behind in the 32nd minute. Osterhag also scored from an offside position (39).

The lead shortly before the end of the first half came as a surprise. Bochum's disorganized defense failed to clear the ball and Wind scored his 10th goal of the season. It was a relief for the striker: Wind had last scored in November and then gone 17 games without a goal.

The hosts almost extended their fortunate first-half lead immediately after the restart. But Thiago Thomas found his match in goalkeeper Manuel Reyman (46). As a result, both teams lacked a clear line of play. The importance of the meeting was clear for both teams.

Hasenhuttl wanted to breathe fresh air by making a triple substitution (65). Substitute Amine Sarr hit a very dangerous ball (67). One minute later, Bornau's header caused goalkeeper Reimann no trouble.

Bochum struggled offensively but suddenly had a great chance to equalize. But Philip Hoffman's header went wide of the goal from close range (71). Wolfsburg trembled before the final whistle.