The crisis at VfL Bochum continues to worsen. The team failed to secure its first three points against TSG Hoffenheim, losing 1-3.

Thanks to a penalty save by national goalkeeper Oliver Baumann and led by the strong Andrej Kramaric, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim managed to break free in the Bundesliga and further exacerbated VfL Bochum’s crisis.

The Kraichgauers won the basement battle against the bottom-of-the-table team 3-1 (1-0) and celebrated their first league victory since the first matchday in front of 19,281 spectators. VfL suffered their seventh defeat in their eighth competitive game of the season. The pressure on coach Peter Zeidler, who only joined the club from FC St. Gallen in the summer, continues to mount.

Kramaric scored in the 11th minute, Marius Bülter added another after the break (64th minute). Bochum managed to pull one back through Christian Gamboa (76th minute). In the 89th minute, TSG keeper Baumann saved a penalty from Lukas Daschner, then Haris Tabakovic (90+3) sealed the victory.

Hoffenheim’s new sporting director Andreas Schicker had already backed coach Pellegrino Matarazzo immediately after taking office. However, the points should still do the Italian-American good.

Kramaric was by far the most prominent player on the pitch in the first half and was involved in almost every Hoffenheim attack. However, the 33-year-old Croatian was somewhat careless with his chances against visitors who were completely harmless for long periods.

Bochum’s Dani de Wit unfortunately deflected the ball into the path of Kramaric before Hoffenheim took a 1-0 lead, and the latter fired powerfully into the bottom left corner. The scene was typical of the Revierclub’s weak performance in the first half.

TSG clearly dominated. Kramaric narrowly missed the goal once (16th minute) and hit the crossbar once (24th minute). Then the national player failed to convert a clear chance against the well-reacting VfL keeper Patrick Drewes (39th minute).

Bochum, who have only scored points under coach Zeidler in a 2-2 draw against promoted Holstein Kiel, initially achieved little in attack. Three minutes before the break, however, Koji Miyoshi came close to equalizing out of nowhere.

The second half was more evenly matched. Bochum substitute Daschner narrowly missed the ball from a promising position (47′), while at the other end, a goal by Bülter was disallowed for offside (51′). A little later, however, Bülter was finally able to celebrate. Young Tom Bischof sent the attacker through with a beautiful through ball down the right, and he hammered the ball into the near corner.

Zeidler, once assistant coach under Ralf Rangnick at Hoffenheim, loudly urged his team on from the sidelines. Gamboa reduced the deficit with a well-placed low shot, and TSG were left trembling once again. After a foul by Kevin Akpoguma on Ibrahima Sissoko, Daschner had a great chance to equalize, but his weakly struck penalty was saved by Baumann. Then Tabakovic sealed the deal at the other end.