Mbangula extends Bremen’s home streak with injury-time stunner | OneFootball

Wolfsburg came into this with a horrid record, and they were nearly behind after only four minutes. Amos Pieper’s strong header from Romano Schmid’s corner-kick delivery needed Kamil Grabara’s intervention.

The visitors had their first attempt in the 12th minute with a harmless shot by Adam Daghim. Marco Grüll scored Bremen’s spectacular winner a fortnight ago against Union Berlin, and he tried another ambitious strike from a tight angle.

However, it was the visitors who broke the deadlock in the 28th minute. Daghim and Saël Kumbedi got in the way of each other in Wolfsburg’s left flank before combining expertly to set up Mattias Svanberg’s fourth goal of the season in all competitions.

The hosts continued to dominate the game after the goal, but they failed to convert that into chances. Yukinari Sugawara and Schmid’s long-range strikes are the closest they came to scoring in the final ten minutes of the half.

The visitors’ only other chance came when Mio Backhaus tipped over Maximilian Arnlod cross-cum-shot after a short corner-kick routine. The second-half also started with Pieper’s header, but the former Borussia Dortmund center-back was unable to hit the target this time.

Despite Bremen’s lackluster performance after the restart, Horst Steffen waited until the 65th minute to introduce summer signings Samuel Mbangula and Victor Boniface. As for the visitors, they were clearly hoping that one goal would be enough to win the match like their visit to Hamburg on matchday 10.

Bremen improved after the substitutions, but Wolfsburg defended in numbers to reduce the danger. Grabara also made decent saves from Grüll’s two attempts. Daghim, who scored the goal against HSV, had a chance to kill the game, but his effort hit the sidenetting.

Wolfsburg’s defensive approach cost them with only seven minutes left on the clock. With their focus solely on defending the penalty box, Wolfsburg left Sugawara to take his time as the Japanese right-back delivered a pinpoint cross to Jens Stage. The Danish midfielder scored yet another crucial goal for the hosts.

In the 90th minute, Boniface tried to score his first goal for Bremen with a solo effort. That chance was followed by Grabara’s excellent save from Sugawara's close-range volley. Their effort was rewarded with a dramatic injury-time finish.

Boniface’s bicycle kick was all over the place, but Mbangula arrived in time to convert with a spectacular volley. Bremen head into the break with three home wins on the trot, while Wolfsburg are on the losing end in six of their last seven games in all competitions.

After 2025’s last international break, Wolfsburg will host Leverkusen, while Bremen face RB Leipzig away from home.