Captain Anthony Losilla spoke after VfL Bochum’s first home win about the relief he felt, his thunderbolt and his teammates in midfield.
“I rarely score goals, so I always have to score dream goals for people to remember,” Anthony Losilla joked last season. It almost happened again in the 3-1 (2-1) win against Wolfsburg.
“What can I say? I just have to shoot more accurately next time.” Afterwards, the Bochum captain was able to laugh about the fact that his volley only hit the left post. In the end, VfL secured their first home win of the season without a dream goal from Losilla.
“We’ve been waiting a long time for this and you can see what’s going on here.” ‘Oh, how beautiful’ and ‘Never again 2nd division’ were already ringing out before the final whistle. ”We have to take this atmosphere with us to get the next points in the three games before the winter break.”
Despite now being unbeaten in five games, there were expressions of discontent from the media and fans here and there, especially after the games against Cologne and in Heidenheim. “There’s always criticism when you don’t win,” Losilla knows. “Nevertheless, it’s obviously positive that we haven’t lost a game in a long time.”
The difference to previous games: the chances that presented themselves were taken. “We’ve rarely seen three goals from us, but that might give us the confidence we need to be dangerous in attack again in the next few games.”
VfL Bochum: Losilla, Osterhage, and Bero? It works
In addition, Matus Bero, who has recovered from injury, was on the pitch, a player who, like Losilla, is not afraid of a tackle. “Everyone knows that Matus is a player who plays very intensely, pushes forward and also works hard defensively.”
Together with Osterhage, who has been in excellent form for weeks, and Kevin Stöger, Bochum took the wind out of their opponents’ sails in the center for long periods. “We are aggressive players who bring a lot of intensity to the pitch. We wanted to win the battle in the middle, and I think that was the key to this game.”
Bochum almost fell back into old habits: despite a dominant first half, the visitors from Wolfsburg needed just one shot on goal shortly before the break to make it 1-2. “That came out of nowhere. We actually had the opponent under control, attacked high up the pitch, won the ball well and had good moments on the counter.”
So in the second 45 minutes, the fear of squandering another lead at the Ruhrstadion played a role. “In moments like that, we’re naturally focused on the game, but I think it’s subconsciously in our heads. Then we suddenly become too defensive and drop deeper than usual.”
Wolfsburg became more dangerous, but either a Bochum leg or keeper Manuel Riemann was there to save the day – until substitute Christopher Antwi-Adjei finally delivered the Blue and Whites with a goal in the 87th minute. “Luckily, we had the last push forward to make it 3-1.” Losilla can save his dream goal for another day.