2-2: Werkself share points with Wolfsburg

It came as no surprise that Wolfsburg coach Martin Schmidt was very happy: "We scored two goals from a few chances to take a point today." And it was equally logical for Lucas Alario to rue dropping two points. "We missed a lot of chances particularly in the first half and we deserved to get more than a draw," said the Argentinian.

Heiko Herrlich made two changes to the side that started at Schalke: The injured Charles Aránguiz (calf) was replaced in defensive midfield  by Dominik Kohr who played alongside skipper Lars Bender, and the recently very impressive Leon Bailey came in for Karim Bellarabi on the wing. Panos Retsos again played at right back. For Wolfsburg, unbeaten in three games under new coach Martin Schmidt, including a result away to Bayern Munich, Mario Gomez was not in the squad and Daniel Didavi started on the bench.

There was great weather for the Family Day at the BayArena with blue skies over the Werkself stadium and late summer temperatures for 29,000 fans eagerly awaiting an afternoon of football entertainment. The visitors were very compact at the back at the start making it difficult for the Werkself to penetrate the opposition defensive lines. The first decent chance came on the quarter-hour mark when Wendell picked out Julian Brandt with a great ball but his pass to Bailey was not controlled giving Wolfsburg the chance to clear the ball away for a corner. Then came a double chance for the two Benders: First, Paul Verhaegh stretched out a leg to clear a shot from Lars off the line, and then Sven headed a cross from Wendell just wide of the target on 20 minutes. And a header  from Retsos from a Bailey corner flew just over the bar on 23 minutes.

Bender almost bags brace

The Werkself were now firing on all cylinders and increasingly displaying more presence and precision as they camped in the VfL half. A cheeky effort by the busy Bailey from a standing position forced Koen Casteels into turning the ball over the bar on 26 minutes. The visiting keeper also kept out a piledriver from Kevin Volland just before the half-hour mark. Then the ball was in the back of the Wolfsburg net:  Another corner from Bailey was turned back to Lars Bender in the box by Retsos and the captain fired a left foot shot into the net for a deserved lead on 29 minutes. Shortly after that, the same approach almost paid off again: A corner from Bailey, the unmarked Lars Bender firing in another left-foot shot but the ball went wide of the upright – the Werkself could have been 2-0 up on 36 minutes.

Wolfsburg hit back just before the break. Bernd Leno made two impressive saves to keep out a Maximilian Arnold volley from distance and a point-blank effort from Josuha Guilavogui on 40 minutes. Four minutes after that, Origi beat Jonathan Tah and Sven Bender in the air and his header left the Germany keeper helpless as VfL equalised. The two sides went into half-time on level terms – Bayer 04 had the upper hand and could have scored more, particularly from set pieces, but then conceded a soft goal Bayer 04 due to a lapse in concentration.

Cool finish from Alario 

Bayer 04 were straight out of the blocks after the restart. A left-foot shot from Brandt  posed the first threat on goal but Casteels was able to make a save on 52 minutes. The VfL keeper also dealt with a low drive from Bailey on 55 minutes. A fast attack down the left then restored the lead: Volland picked out Wendell on the wing and Alario kept his cool as he turned the pinpoint cross into the net to make it 2-1 on 61 minutes – as with his goal against Hamburg SV, the Argentinian gambled by taking up a position at the near post.

Casteels then made a double save from Volland on 64 minutes. Wolfsburg now had to take more risks bringing on Didavi in place of Guilavogui. And VfL again drew level: Blaszczykowski rounded off a counter-attack in a one-on-one with Leno and he made no mistake in levelling at 2-2 with the Werkself caught napping again on 69 minutes. Herrlich made a double substitution in midfield with Julian Baumgartlinger and Kai Havertz replacing the booked Lars Bender and Kohr. A well-hit free kick from Bailey on 79 minutes was kept out by Casteels as it headed for the roof of the net. There was a scramble in the six-yard box from the ensuing corner but the hosts were unable to find the back of the net.

The Werkself continued to press forward, determined to clock up a third home win. That was evident when Joel Pohjanpalo came off the bench for Brandt on 84 minutes. Bayer 04 were then almost caught off guard– with a large dose of luck that substitute Victor Osimhen put the ball wide of the post on 88 minutes. An exciting encounter with the Werkself on top ended all square.

Bayer 04 are back in action on Saturday 21 October on matchday nine with an away game at Borussia Mönchengladbach. The fixture at Borussia Park kicks off at 15.30 CET.

Match stats:

Bayer 04 – Leno – Retsos, Tah, S. Bender, Wendell – Kohr (Havertz 74'), L. Bender (Baumgartlinger 70') – Brandt (Pohjanpalo 84.'), Bailey – Volland, Alario

VfL Wolfsburg: Casteels – Verhaegh, Tisserand, Uduokhai, Gerhardt – Camacho, Guilavogui (Didavi 65') – Blaszczykowski (Dimata 71.'), Malli, Arnold – Origi (Osimhen 84')

Goals: 1-0 Lars Bender (29'), 1-1 Origi (44'), 2-1 Alario (61'), 2-2 Blaszczykowski (69')

Booked: Kohr, L. Bender – Uduokhai, Arnold

Referee: Ittrich (Hamburg)

Attendance: 29,104