Stuttering Wolfsburg held by Köln
VfL Wolfsburg are without a win in six Bundesliga matches after being held to a 1-1 draw by 1. FC Köln on Matchday 19.
VfL Wolfsburg 1-1 1. FC Köln
Goals: 1-0 Draxler (67’), 1-1 Modeste (75’)
Köln showed plenty of endeavour in the early stages, but it was Wolfsburg who carried the greater threat in the final third. Billy Goats goalkeeper Timo Horn pulled off a stunning point-blank save to foil Wolfsburg striker Max Kruse, before Julian Draxler curled narrowly over the crossbar from 18 yards. Returning midfielder Luiz Gustavo warmed the palms of Horn from range, while Andre Schürrle should have made more of a well-worked opening on the left-hand side of the Köln area.
Both sides pressed for the opener after the restart as Köln leading scorer Anthony Modeste tested Diego Benaglio and Gustavo touched Sebastian Jung’s low cross against the post. Wolfsburg went ahead when Draxler rifled home from Vieirinha, but the Billy Goats were back on level terms less than ten minutes later. Leonardo Bittencourt played in Modeste, who made no mistake from 15 yards with his ninth Bundesliga goal of the season.
Man of the match
Almost all of Wolfsburg’s attacks went through Draxler, who showed great composure in a congested six-yard box to fire the hosts ahead.
Talking point
The result is another knock to Wolfsburg’s top-four ambitions. Last season’s runners-up now trail second-placed Borussia Dortmund by 17 points and fourth-in-the-table Bayer 04 Leverkusen by four.
Match stats
- Draxler was involved in all four of Wolfsburg’s attempts on goal in the first half.Filip Mladenovic made his first start since joining Köln during the winter break.Köln are unbeaten in their last four on the road.
Line-ups
Wolfsburg: Benaglio (c) - Jung, Naldo, Dante, Rodriguez - Gustavo, Guilavogui - Vieirinha, Draxler - M. Kruse (Bendtner 56’) - Schürrle (Caligiuri 80’)
Köln: Horn - Risse, Maroh, Mavraj, Hector - Lehmann (c), Gerhardt - Bittencourt (Svento 86’), Mladenovic (Vogt 80’) - Zoller, Modeste (Osako 90’)
