Defeat against Frankfurt

The Wolves are still waiting for their first points at home this season after a brace from former player Omar Marmoush consigned them to a 2-1 defeat. Ridle Baku had cancelled out Marmoush’s 30th-minute opener (76’), but the Egyptian restored Frankfurt’s lead with a late penalty (82’). VfL visit defending German champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen next on Sunday 22 September (kick-off 15:30 CEST).

Head coach Ralph Hasenhüttl was forced into one change from the 2-0 win at Holstein Kiel before the international break. Lovro Majer was ruled out with a ligament injury, so summer signing Salih Özcan was handed his first start. There was special applause before kick-off for VfL captain Maximilian Arnold, as he made his 350th Bundesliga appearance for the Green-and-Whites.

SGE boss Dino Toppmöller stuck with the same side that won 3-1 against Hoffenheim, meaning ex-Wolf Marmoush – who was a doubt in the build-up to the match – also started.

Ralph Hasenhüttl (VfL Wolfsburg head coach): “Obviously we’re disappointed. I’d prefer to talk more about the game, but I can’t understand the penalty decision or the yellow card when it should have been red. Regardless of whether or not we should have lost, at the end of the day we didn’t take any points against a strong team. It was very intense, both teams fought well and expended a lot of energy. We had two great chances that we could have made more of.”

Head coach Dino Toppmöller: “Wolfsburg were aggressive and attacked a lot of second balls, albeit without being very dangerous in front of goal. We weren’t really in the game for the first 15 to 20 minutes. That’s why we made some changes, which helped us both in attack and in defence. VfL put us under pressure, but we showed a good reaction after the break, as we did against Hoffenheim, and didn’t let ourselves get thrown off course. We’re happy to take the three points.”