Week 14: 4-6-4 18 points VfB lose at home to a good Red Bull squad, 0-1. Only shot ON goal was by Anton, a central defender. Kobel had several outstanding saves, including a PK that kept this a narrow loss. Goals - Assists Wamangituka 7 - 3 Kalajdzic 5 - 3 Gonzalez 4 - 1 Didavi 1 - 3 Castro 2 - 1 Mangala 1 - 2 Kempf 2 - 0 Coulibaly 2 - 0 Klimowicz 1 - 1 Klement 0 - 2 Forster 1 - 0 Endo 0 - 1 Sosa 0 - 1 Goals scored: 26 Goals conceded: 21 Clean sheets: 1
Week 15, VfB visit Augsburg with the hope of breaking a 2-match losing streak. Expected lineup based upon news: Kobel; Stenzel, Anton, Kempf; Wamangituka, Castro, Endo, Mangala, Sosa; Gonzalez, Coulibaly Sunday at 08:30 here in the Grain Belt.
Klimowicz starts instead of Coulibaly. 10' Gonzalez scores a PK after Klimowicz was tripped in the box, 0-1.
76' Augsburg player sent off with second yellow card. Didavi and Forster on for Klimowicz and Castro.
And that's it. VfB with a fine 4-1 away win over FC Augsburg. Their 5th win on the road, but no home wins yet.
Week 15: 5-6-4 21 points VfB beat Augsburg 4-1 in Augsburg for their 5th road win. Goals from Gonzalez (PK), Wamangituka, Castro, and Didavi, with assists given by Sosa, Gonzalez, and Anton. Goals - Assists Wamangituka 8 - 3 Kalajdzic 5 - 3 Gonzalez 5 - 2 Didavi 2 - 3 Castro 3 - 1 Mangala 1 - 2 Kempf 2 - 0 Coulibaly 2 - 0 Klimowicz 1 - 1 Klement 0 - 2 Sosa 0 - 2 Forster 1 - 0 Endo 0 - 1 Anton 0 - 1 Goals scored: 30 Goals conceded: 22 Clean sheets: 1
Nice effort by VfB to leapfrog Augsburg into 10th place! Man, I sure hope they can keep this up, but they need to start winning games at home!
Week 16, VfB host Borussia Moenchengladbach in Stuttgart for the late start (11:30 in the Grain Belt). Expected lineup as per the Bundesliga website: Stuttgart: Kobel - Mavropanos, Anton, Kempf - Silas, Mangala, Endo, Sosa - Klimowicz, Castro (c) - Gonzalez
Sosa botches a tackle in the box, and BM is given a PK, 0-1 at 34'. Stenzel got the start instead of Mavropanos.
90+4' Kalajdzic pulled down in the box, Silas scores the PK, 2-2. Wow. Match ended right after the ensuing kickoff. Fair enough. Each squad got a PK in the match. BM looked the better squad in the second half as the VfB midfield passing broke down. Too many passes directly at a BM player or out-of-bounds. But they did fight back and got another home point. BM have a very organized and disciplined squad. They made a good run in the CL during the group stage.
Week 16: 5-7-4 22 points Home draw 2-2 against Borussia Moenchengladbach although BM were the better side for the bulk of the match. Sosa cross headed in by Gonzalez, and then Wamangituka scored a PK at the very end after Kalajdzic was pulled down in the box. Goals - Assists Wamangituka 9 - 3 Gonzalez 6 - 2 Kalajdzic 5 - 3 Didavi 2 - 3 Castro 3 - 1 Mangala 1 - 2 Sosa 0 - 3 Kempf 2 - 0 Coulibaly 2 - 0 Klimowicz 1 - 1 Klement 0 - 2 Forster 1 - 0 Endo 0 - 1 Anton 0 - 1 Goals scored: 32 Goals conceded: 24 Clean sheets: 1
I didn't get to see the game, but a lot of BMG fans were complaining about the late penalty call. And we still haven't won at home, this season.
Yeah, the BMG thread is one of the few active ones in this forum. They can complain about the late penalty call, but their defender clearly had his arms around Kalajdzic and was pulling him backwards. Midweek match this Wednesday. Arminia host VfB in Bielefeld at 13:30 Grain Belt time. I will either watch this live, looking over my shoulder while "at work" (home office) or else later on delay.
Week 17: 5-7-5 22 points Went to Bielefeld for a midweek match and lost 3-0 against a side they should have beaten. Awful performance, just awful. All of that hard work against mid- and upper-table sides and then they throw it away against 15th place Arminia. I don't know why Matarazzo continues to start Klimowicz. The kid just doesn't know what to do with the ball. He hesitates and then either loses it to the defender or makes a poor pass. Bench him and start Didavi instead. Goals - Assists Wamangituka 9 - 3 Gonzalez 6 - 2 Kalajdzic 5 - 3 Didavi 2 - 3 Castro 3 - 1 Mangala 1 - 2 Sosa 0 - 3 Kempf 2 - 0 Coulibaly 2 - 0 Klimowicz 1 - 1 Klement 0 - 2 Forster 1 - 0 Endo 0 - 1 Anton 0 - 1 Goals scored: 32 Goals conceded: 27 Clean sheets: 1
Yes, indeed! Both the attack and the defense pissed off today. This game should have been easily won. Hopefully, this is a one-off screw up, and is not repeated anytime soon.
Week 18, VfB visit Freiburg to take on their near rivals, who sit 2 points above them in the league. Freiburg took a 0-3 lead in the season opening match and VfB fought back only to lose 2-3. Let's hope they don't give up an early lead again. Expected lineup: Stuttgart: Kobel - Stenzel, Anton, Kempf - Silas, Mangala, Endo, Sosa - Castro (c), Didavi - Gonzalez Both Gonzalez and Wamangituka return from suspension in the midweek match after having picked up their 5th yellow card in the previous match. I also want to see Didavi start in place of Klimowicz, who has not yet impressed.