VfL Bochum vs Arminia Bielefeld 0-1

Arminia Bielefeld left Bochum with a 1-0 win after Benjamin Boakye struck in the 78th minute, finishing Joel Grodowski’s assist to settle a tight game. Bochum had more of the ball and more shots, but Bielefeld took the one chance that counted.

The first half brought no goals, though both sides were cautioned before the interval, with Michael Steinwender booked on 23 minutes and Joel Felix shown yellow on 39 minutes. It was 0-0 at half-time.

Bielefeld made two changes on 64 minutes and one of them paid off. Benjamin Boakye, who had come on in the 64th minute, scored on 78 minutes to put his side ahead, and Bielefeld then closed the game down with further substitutions on 82 and 90 minutes. Bochum also turned to the bench on 63, 81 and 86 minutes, but could not find an equaliser. Gerrit Holtmann was booked on 87 minutes, and David Min was shown yellow in stoppage time after his late introduction.

The numbers backed Bochum’s territorial edge without changing the result. VfL Bochum had 64% possession and 535 passes to Arminia Bielefeld’s 301, while also leading the shot count 9-13 and corners 6-4. Bochum had 3 shots on target to Bielefeld’s 2, but the visitors posted the better xG at 1.21 to 0.53 and also had more saves, 3 to 1.

There were five yellow cards in all. Bochum’s bookings went to Michael Steinwender on 23 minutes and Gerrit Holtmann on 87 minutes, while Bielefeld’s were Joel Felix on 39 minutes, Benjamin Boakye on 72 minutes and David Min on 90 minutes. There were no red cards.