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bundesliga

Lukas Nmecha and Wout Weghorst keep perfect Wolfsburg top with win at Greuther Fürth

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Lukas Nmecha and Wout Weghorst were on target as leaders Wolfsburg maintained their perfect start to the season with a 2-0 victory at Greuther Fürth.

Greuther Fürth 0-2 Wolfsburg
Goals: 0-1 L. Nmecha (10'), 0-2 Weghorst (90+1')

After a busy end to the transfer window, the hosts handed competitive debuts to new signings Sebastian Griesbeck, Cedric Itten, Nick Viergever and Jetro Willems, while their table-topping visitors sprung some surprises with Tuesday's UEFA Champions League trip to French champions Lille in the back of Mark van Bommel's mind. John Brooks, Kevin Mbabu and Jerome Roussillon were all rested in defence, while summer arrivals Nmecha and Luca Waldschmidt started alongside Weghorst in attack. It was through the endeavour of that trident that Wolfsburg opened the scoring as Nmecha lashed home from Weghorst's through-ball. From there it was going to prove a tough task for Fürth to deny the Wolves from extending their 100 percent record, and the remainder of the first period was largely played out with Wolfsburg camped on the edge of the Greuther box.

The home side did respond and they burst out the traps after the break, with captain Branimir Hrgota firing wide when freed on the left of the Wolsfburg box in what was Fürth's first proper sight of goal. Against the best defence in the division, however, Fürth's forward-thinking players were largely feeding off scraps and were presented with little else to profit from. Wolfsburg regained near total control the more the game wore on, dominating possession without the need to shift into top gear. They confirmed all three points courtesy of Weghorst's 91st-minute penalty, delivering another hugely impressive performance from van Bommel's men, who chalked up a fourth straight victory and reaffirmed their place at the top of the table.

Match stats

  • Now in their second top-flight campaign, Fürth are still yet to win a Bundesliga match at home. Their 19-game run without victory on home soil is a league record.
  • They have also never beaten Wolfsburg, drawing once and now losing three times across four meetings between the two in all competitions.
  • Nmecha scored his second goal for the club on his first Bundesliga start since rejoining Wolfsburg in the summer. He has now played 112 minutes of top-flight football this season, averaging a goal every 56 minutes.
  • Van Bommel last week became the first Wolfsburg head coach to win his first three matches in charge since Wolfgang Wolf in the club’s debut top-flight campaign (1997/98). He's now the first to open his account with four successive victories.
  • Wolfsburg have conceded a league-low one goal after four rounds of 2021/22 fixtures. They boasted the second best defence last term (24 goals against).
  • Koen Casteels has kept three clean sheets in the process, a number matched only by Mainz's Robin Zentner.

Watch: Waldschmidt: "We worked hard for the win"

Line-ups

Fürth: Burchert - Meyerhöfer, Bauer, Viergever, Willems (Barry 68') - Seguin, Griesbeck, Green (Christiansen 60') - Nielsen (Leweling 79') - Itten, Hrgota (c) (Abiama 68')
Unused subs: Funk, Fein, Sarpei, Tillman, Dudziak
Out: Itter (knee), Jung (knee), Kehr (groin), Ngankam (knee)
Coach: Stefan Leitl

Wolfsburg: Casteels (c) - Baku (Mbabu 67'), Lacroix (Brooks 76'), Bornauw, Gerhardt - Guilavogui, Arnold - Philipp (Lukebakio 67'), Waldschmidt - Weghorst, L. Nmecha (Steffen 81')
Unused subs: Pervan, Vranckx, Mehmedi, Roussillon, Ginczek
Out: Bialek (knee), Otavio (ankle), Schlager (knee), William (knee)
Coach: Mark van Bommel