VfB Stuttgart feel they are on a “very good path” after their 2-0 win in Wolfsburg. Only Omar Marmoush’s penalty miss caused discussion.
What went through Pellegrino Matarazzo’s mind when Omar Marmoush missed his penalty, was conceivably simple: “Shit, he missed,” had been the first thought. The second: “Wataru missed the follow-up shot.”
But because it wasn’t just a normal penalty, VfB Stuttgart will probably still be thinking about it for a while after the 2-0 away win in Wolfsburg on Sunday evening, even though it didn’t change the outcome of the game. Marmoush had finally, firstly, casually lobbed his penalty onto the crossbar, and secondly, at the club to which – as of now – he will return after the season following his loan to the “Ländle”.
Matarazzo demonstratively certifies Marmoush a “huge game “
That’s why not every observer was as lenient as Matarazzo, who demonstratively “didn’t want to reduce Marmoush to his penalty” on Sky, preferring to highlight his “huge game”. Philipp Förster, the 2:0 scorer, rather said what many Wolfsburg players probably also thought: “To take a penalty like that against your former club doesn’t exactly show respect. But his team-mate had “decided to take the shot”.
Matarazzo at least conceded that the penalty had looked “unfortunate”. “But he can take good penalties, you can see that in training. He’s not the first to try to lob. It doesn’t look nice, but I don’t think he had any bad intention.” The fact that the 22-year-old attacker was substituted immediately after the “Panenka” attempt had “nothing to do with it, it was already planned”.
Just as Matarazzo preferred to see the positive in Marmoush (“Was very active, claimed a lot of balls”), he also thought the same of the entire team: Although “the last ten minutes would definitely become an issue”, in which they had noticeably slackened, up until then they had “acted in a tactically very disciplined manner”.
Matarazzo: “The team showed greatness again today “
At the same time, the starting position was quite unpleasant: in terms of the table, because Augsburg and Hertha were ahead in the basement and FC Bayern is waiting on Tuesday; and in terms of personnel, because Borna Sosa (back problems) and Nikolas Nartey (knee problems) had to pull out at short notice and Roberto Massimo had to be substituted shortly after the opening goal (Mavropanos, 25th).
“The team showed greatness again today to stay calm in such a troubled period,” Matarazzo gave special praise. “We managed to be a unit despite two absences in final training. I also told the boys before the game that if the performance is right, we will score. I think we are on a very good path. “
