Disappointing stalemate

VfB coach Armin Veh made three changes to his starting eleven for the clash with Arminia Bielefeld, following last weekend's 2-2 draw with Frankfurt. Serdar Tasci, Sami Khedira and Cacau returned to the first team whilst captain Thomas Hitzlsperger was again rested.
It was a slow start in an almost capacity filled Mercedes-Benz Arena with little for either side to write home about. The first chance of the match fell to Mario Gomez after 15 minutes but the striker's effort never really threatened the Arminia keeper. Further openings for Ludovic Magnin, who could only find the outside netting with his volleyed effort, and Elson were unnecessarily wasted. Nine minutes before the break, Armin Veh made his first substitution of the day with Sami Khedira, who was suffering with adductor problems, making way for Roberto Hilbert but there was to be no further action before the break and the sides went in at half time deadlocked at 0-0.

Much of the same

Once again during the second half, VfB could find no way of breaking down the tightly packed Bielefeld defence in a game that rarely reached the expected level of a Bundesliga tie. It took until a quarter hour before the end until the home side got their next genuine sight of goal. Martin Lanig came steaming in at the back post to meet a delivery from Elson but the midfield man could only turn ball around the post with the outside of his boot. Close to the end of the game, Pavel Pardo had a go from distance but there was nothing doing on the day for Armin Veh's men and the game finished in what could only be described as a disappointing 0-0 draw against Arminia Bielefeld.

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