Weghorst fires Wolfsburg past Bochum

Wolfsburg 1-0 Bochum
Goals: 1-0 Weghorst (22')
Red cards: Tesche (4')

Last season's Bundesliga 2 champions were back in the top flight after an 11-year absence, and the promoted side could not have imagined a more dramatic return. After Ridle Baku struck the crossbar from close range inside 60 seconds, the visitors at the Volkswagen Arena were reduced to 10 men when Robert Tesche was sent off following a VAR check. His handball on the Bochum goal-line pushed Renato Steffen's header onto the post, and Frank Willenborg gave the midfielder his marching orders. Weghorst stepped up, but Riemann hadn't read the script, diving low to his left to keep the Wolves' 20-goal star of 2020/21 at bay. The hosts made the most of their man advantage to keep Bochum penned back, however, and their pressure told after 22 minutes with Weghorst making up for his earlier miss from 11 yards to slot home sweetly on the turn from a similar distance. Playing under Mark van Bommel for the first time in the Bundesliga, Wolfsburg kept their control of the game for the remainder of the first half, with Bochum failing to register a shot on target.

It was almost another lightning-fast start for Wolfsburg in the second half as a header from Weghorst forced Riemann into action once more. Minutes later and Jerome Roussillon's cross-cum-shot attempted to sneak past the Bochum No.1, but he recovered to make another solid save. Baku was the next to have a go, but his header from Kevin Mbabu's cross was plucked out of the air by Riemann. Elvis Rexhbecaj - on loan from Wolfsburg at Bochum for 2021/22 - laced a shot wide with 20 minutes to go as Bochum looked to find an equaliser. Omar Marmoush came on from the bench and almost set up Weghorst for a second after a mazy run, but Riemann was once again on hand to keep the score at 1-0. Bochum were waiting for just one chance and it came for Milos Pantovic as he broke away to go one-on-one with Koen Casteels, but Wolfsburg's new captain came up trumps to save with his legs. The promoted side continued to make the home fans sweat in the final minutes, but van Bommel's men battled to victory.

Watch: "I was looking for revenge after missed penalty" - Wout Weghorst

• Tesche's red card was the fastest in Bochum's Bundesliga history.
• All 54 of Weghorst's Bundesliga goals have come from inside the penalty area.
• Weghorst has hit double figures for goals in all three of his seasons in the Bundesliga to date, including a career-best 20 last term.
• Zoller was Bochum's joint-leading 15-goal scorer in Bundesliga 2 last season. He previously netted 11 goals in 76 Bundesliga appearances for Cologne between 2014 and 2018.
• Bochum are competing in their 35th season of Bundesliga football. They have been relegated six times.
• Riemann had the best save percentage in the second division last season. He faced eight shots on target in the first hour against Wolfsburg, conceding just once.

Wolfsburg: Casteels (c) - Mbabu, Lacroix, Brooks, Roussillon (Mehmedi 87') - Schlager (Guilavogui 81'), Arnold - Baku, Philipp (Gerhardt 81'), Steffen (Marmoush 70’) - Weghorst
Unused subs: Pervan, Bornauw, Pongracic, Walther
Out: Bialek (knee), Brekalo (knock), Ginczek (back), F. Nmecha (match fitness), L. Nmecha (match fitness), Otavio (ankle), Victor (flu), Vranckx (calf), William (knee)
Coach: Mark van Bommel

Bochum: Riemann - Gamboa (Bockhorn 78’), Lampropoulos (Ganvoula 89'), Leitsch, Soares - Losilla (c), Tesche - Asano (Pantovic 46’), Rexhbecaj, Antwi-Adjei - Zoller
Unused subs: Esser, Bella-Kotchap, Masovic, Osterhage, Chibsah
Out: Blum (match fitness), Decarli (thigh), Hartwig (groin), Holtmann (muscular), Löwen (thigh), Novothny (knock), Stafylidis (match fitness)
Coach: Thomas Reis

Watch: "It's a great feeling to be back in the Bundesliga" - Mark van Bommel