Wout Weghorst, after scoring his first Bundesliga goal in three months, is full of confidence about the end of the season with 1899 Hoffenheim. The 31-year-old striker believes that sixth place Eintracht Frankfurt can still be caught in the coming weeks.
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Weghorst emerged as the Man of the Match in Sunday's home game against FC Augsburg (3-1), opening the score after seventeen minutes from a cross by Czech wing-back Pavel Kaderabek and setting up Croatian international Andrej Kramaric for the 2-0 three minutes later.
Thanks in part to the contribution of the Dutch international, Hoffenheim secured their first Bundesliga win since early March and, from the eighth position, still have prospects for European football.
After a tough series of matches against Frankfurt, VfB Stuttgart, and Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim will face top teams RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich in the coming weeks, in addition to four teams from the lower half of the table. Weghorst is looking upwards. "Everything is still open. You should always aim for the highest, we are still very much in the race for the Europa League spots," says the striker on loan from Burnley ambitiously in an interview with Kicker, knowing that seventh place is likely good enough for the Conference League qualifying rounds.
For Weghorst himself, the match against Augsburg was also welcome, after having scored only for the Dutch national team against Scotland since his goal at SC Freiburg in January. That Hoffenheim was more dominant than in recent weeks certainly played a role. "My qualities are around the box, that's where I'm at my best." And that he had already scored five times against Augsburg also helped. "You know you've scored a lot against a club. Somewhere that gives you maybe unconsciously a bit more confidence."
Burnley
Weghorst completed his role as the matchwinner ten minutes before the end by clearing a header from Augsburg defender Patrick Pfeiffer off the line, although he would have preferred Hoffenheim to have been less sloppy in possession in the second half. Nonetheless, the team managed by Pellegrino Matarazzo made good progress in their quest for European football. And Weghorst gave the club management an extra reason to make his move permanent after this season from relegation-threatened Burnley.
