Nürnberg and Wolfsburg split points in spectacular late drama

1. FC Nürnberg and VfL Wolfsburg play to a 4-4 draw at Max-Morlock-Stadion, in the Saturday primetime match for the seventh matchweek of their 2026/27 2. Bundesliga campaigns. Three of the goals were scored in second half stoppage time.

1. FC Nürnberg (5-1-0, 2nd) host VfL Wolfsburg (3-2-1, 4th) in the Saturday primetime match at Max-Morlock-Stadion, in the seventh matchweek of the 2026/27 2. Bundesliga season.

The two sides are in competition for the two direct promotion places and the one promotion/relegation playoff spot. Wolfsburg could not catch up to Nürnberg with tonight’s result, but a win would move them up to third in the table and close the gap between them and Nürnberg in the second promotion spot to just two points; a Nürnberg win, on the other hand, increases the gap between Wolfsburg and second place to at least seven points, depending on the result between Hertha BSC and SpVgg Greuther Fürth on Sunday.

Nürnberg went into this match with the most goals of any team in the second division (16) and the best goal to shot ratio (0,16); Wolfsburg came in with the most assists (13) and the most goal + assist contributions (28 = 15 + 13). Given these statistics, it is unsurprising that Nürnberg has the top scorer in the competition, Mohamed Alì Zoma (6 goals), and Wolfsburg has the top assist contributor and the top goal + assist contributor, Fabian Reese (8 = 3 goals + 5 assists).

The last time that the two sides met was in the 2018/19 season, which was the last time that Nürnberg were in the Bundesliga; Wolfsburg were at the top level between 1997/98 and 2025/26 before a historic relegation in May. The last time that Nürnberg won a head-to-head meeting with Wolfsburg was in the 2012/13 season, a 1-0 result thanks to a seventy-fourth minute goal from Timo Gebhart. Overall, Wolfsburg hold a 6-2-3 record through eleven meetings with Nürnberg between 2010 and 2019.

Wolfsburg, in grey, would kick off the match and go right to left in the opening term; Nürnberg, in red, would go left to right.

The first chance of the evening came in the seventh minute, an Alexander Bernhardsson shot from distance, towards the bottom-centre area of the goal, that went right into the hands of Jan Reichert without much pressure. The visitors would win a corner just four minutes later, delivered far-post by Joakim Mæhle; Yannick Gerhardt latched onto the cross with a volley that went off Fynn Otto at the goalmouth – and deflected left into the path of Hauke Wahl, who deflected the ball just under the hand of Reichert and over the line to put Wolfsburg in front.

Wolfsburg nearly doubled their advantage at the fifteen-minute mark, as a cross from Bernhardsson was tapped goalwards by Robert Glatzel. Reichert made an acrobatic right-handed save to turn the initial attempt away, but could not get onto the rebound in time; it landed in front of Gerhardt at the goal area, but his light header grazed the bottom of the bar. The visitors quickly moved the ball around the box, eventually giving it to Reese with an open net on the left side; the 28-year-old from Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein directed the ball towards the bottom-left corner, but Reichert quickly made his way to that end to block it with his right leg.

Mathys Angély took down Alì Zoma on the left side of the Wolfsburg half in the seventeenth minute, giving the hosts their first chance of the evening. Rayan Ghrieb’s far-post free kick delivery nearly got to Piet Scobel, but the 21-year-old from Pinneberg, Schleswig-Holstein was unable to steer the ball to his right and it bounced away from danger. Wolfsburg would go the other way after the restart, and this time, it was Alì Zoma committing the foul, grabbing onto the arm of Bernhardsson and dragging the Swede to the ground – enough for Lars Erbst to hand out the first yellow card of the evening.

Nürnberg’s first opportunity came in the twenty-eighth minute, as a pass from Ghrieb landed at the feet of Alì Zoma, on the right side of the box. Kilian Fischer could not keep pace with the 22-year-old from Merate, Italy, whose attempt towards the bottom-right corner was knocked away by the left leg of 18-year-old Gdańsk, Poland-born keeper Jakub Zieliński.

It did not take long for Wolfsburg to shut down that momentum, though. On the following counterattack, Joakim Mæhle was brought down by Tim Janisch, allowing the visitors to gain some space. They took full advantage, as the 29-year-old Danish international threaded the ball to Vinícius Souza, who in turn played the ball short to Muhammed Damar; from there, Damar curled the ball beautifully above a leaping Reichert and into the top-right corner to double the lead.

A series of quick passes between Alì Zoma and Ghrieb outside the Wolfsburg penalty area created some space for Nürnberg in the thirty-fourth minute; with the right side of the box completely open, Ghrieb knocked the ball in that direction to Scobel, but he could not take full advantage as his half-volley was lifted slightly over the bar. This was followed by a shot from the edge of the box in the thirty-sixth minute from Julian Justvan – denied of the bottom-left corner by a low-to-ground Zieliński.

Wolfsburg would have a major chance to increase the deficit to three just five minutes from halftime. Reese delivered a cross into the right side of the box – it was brought down by Damar, who was quickly pushed off his mark by Eric Porstner. The ball would land at the feet of Gerhardt, who would have a close-range opportunity; his right-footed attempt got past Reichert but was struck a bit too hard, sailing over the bar.

The visitors managed another counterattack just before halftime; Reese set up Glatzel on the right side of the Nürnberg third, and he played the ball short to Fischer, who darted into the penalty area at top speed. Damar brought down Kalogeropoulos in the following seconds, then Reese was then pulled down by Janisch, and tensions boiled over at the halftime break – with Lars Erbst and the two assistant officials, Manuel Bergmann and Cengiz Kabalakli, having to break up the commotion.

Shots in the opening term finished 13-10 to Wolfsburg, 5-2 on target, with 17 touches in the opposing area compared to 11. Possession went 52 % to Nürnberg, who also managed a slightly better pass accuracy – 85 % on 193 completions to 84 % on 171.

Fifteen minutes later, Scobel started off the second half with a pass back, eventually allowing Reichert to kick the ball upfield. Nürnberg would now go right to left, with Wolfsburg going left to right when they would get their attacking chances.

The hosts would get their first chance six minutes into the second half, and they would take full advantage of the opportunity. It began with Javier Fernández passing the ball into an open right side of the Wolfsburg penalty area; getting into the space was Scobel, who fended off Fischer before blasting the ball past Zieliński and into the right side of the goal to bring Nürnberg within one.

The hosts had all of the momentum in the first fifteen minutes of the second half, winning a majority of the midfield battles and creating space along the sides of the box for major opportunities. Close to the hour mark, Javier Fernández, in the centre of the Wolfsburg half, flicked the ball into the path of Alì Zoma, who in turn tapped the ball to the left side of the box to Ghrieb. Ghrieb would then find Scobel for a powerful shot into the bottom-left corner to bring Nürnberg level.

Just four minutes after that, Porstner threaded the ball into a similar spot on the left side of the box, reaching Alì Zoma. The Italian international almost immediately tapped the ball between the converging Bernhardsson and Mæhle, past a diving Zieliński and into the bottom-right corner to put Nürnberg in front for the first time this evening – now on pace to go eight points clear of Tobias Strobl’s Wölfe.

Nürnberg was not done, coming very close to a fourth in the seventy-fourth minute. A failed clearance from Reese led to a clean sliding tackle between the legs from Markhiyev, who pushed forward along the right side of the Wolfsburg penalty area before powering a shot past Zieliński but off the side netting. Scobel and Justvan would both see chances in the following minutes, the former gloved down by Zieliński and the other hoofed well over the bar.

Both of Wolfsburg’s opportunities before the eightieth minute were just outside the box, as they managed only one touch inside the Nürnberg penalty area in that same span. The first came off the boot of Damar, into the hands of Reichert, and the second was sent well over the bar by substitute Alessio Besio, who entered for Bernhardsson just minutes earlier.

In the eighty-sixth minute, Kento Shiogai won the ball from Rafael Lubach along the touchline and played it to his left, in the direction of Glatzel. Glatzel was brought down by Ioannis Masouras – and Erbst pointed to the spot, giving the Greek substitute a yellow card in the process. As Wolfsburg were getting set for what was presumably a penalty, Alexios Kalogeropoulos went in front of the penalty spot and started scuffing it, causing Damar to slightly push him and then Shiogai to knock him down – both Kalogeropoulos and Shiogai would pick up bookings for the incident.

At the same time, Erbst would consult with VAR assistants Robert Kampka and Markus Wollenweber, determining that at the point that Shiogai took the ball, it had already bounced into the touchline and out of play – thus, the penalty was nullified and Masouras’ yellow was rescinded. Not that it would matter to Wolfsburg, though: they would still manage to find an equaliser in the first minute of stoppage time, as a header from an upfield Zieliński deflected off the head of Kalogeropoulos and reached the right boot of Besio – and he did just enough to tap the ball over the line.

Nürnberg won a corner in the fifth minute of stoppage time, following a chance from Markhiyev that was steered away from danger. Markhiyev himself would deliver the set piece, headed by Masouras towards the bottom-right corner. Zieliński tried his best to knock the ball away from the goal line, but it was all for nought – as it hit the top of the mesh and Nürnberg took a 4-3 lead.

It looked like Nürnberg had victory sealed – but it was not quite certain: Wolfsburg went the other way following the restart, and Damar took a long shot from distance that went off the hands of an acrobatic Reichert. The ensuing corner was delivered far-post by Maximilian Arnold, eventually landing to Besio – who would knock the ball into the bottom-right corner for a last-gasp equaliser. The Swiss winger, at the double, secured one point for Wolfsburg on the last kick of the match, as this one would finish in a 4-4 draw.

Shots in the second half finished 11-9 to Nürnberg, 6-4 on target; touches in the opposing penalty area finished 24-10 to the hosts. Wolfsburg managed 51 % possession; pass accuracy went in Nürnberg’s favour, 82 % on 161 completions to 80 % on 168.

Overall, it was an extremely close match from start to finish; possession finished an even 50 – 50 (%), but Wolfsburg outshot Nürnberg 22-21, 9-8 on target. Pass accuracy finished 83 % to Nürnberg on 354 completions, 82 % to Wolfsburg on 343 completions. Touches in the opposing penalty area went 34-28 to Nürnberg.

1. FC Nürnberg will visit newly-promoted Energie Cottbus in the Friday primetime match for matchweek eight, with kickoff set for 18.30 (CET). VfL Wolfsburg will host 1. FC Heidenheim 1846, who, like them, were relegated from the Bundesliga; that match is set to kickoff next Saturday, 13.00 (CET).