Jordi Osei-Tutu got his first start in over three months for VfL Bochum on Sunday, and he made full use of it with a goal and an assist.

Osei-Tutu last made a start for his loan club in a 2. Bundesliga game against VfL Osnabruck on November 22nd. He played the full 90 minutes at right-back that day but gave away a penalty – albeit an extremely soft one.

Even so, it seemed he fell out of favour with Bochum head coach Thomas Reis after that. He made a couple of league appearances from the bench and only missed out on the squad completely in three of the nine games between then and now, but he couldn’t get a start.

That changed on Sunday when Reis decided to name Osei-Tutu in his lineup against SV Sandhausen. Rather than playing at right-back, the Arsenal loanee started at right-wing, and it didn’t take long for him to take advantage of his more advanced position.

Match Review

After Bochum took an early lead through a Danny Blum penalty, Osei-Tutu assisted Blum’s second with a cross from the right-hand side in the eighth minute. Sandhausen struck back before half-time though, with Julius Biada scoring twice for 2-2.

Blum completed his hat-trick early in the second half to regain the lead for Bochum. After that, Osei-Tutu scored a goal of his own to make it 4-2. It was a lovely finish from the edge of the box, fired into the near post with his weaker left foot.

The lead didn’t last though. Milos Pantovic’s handball gave Sandhausen a chance to make it 4-3 from the penalty spot, with Kevin Behrens taking advantage. After that, Osei-Tutu came off, before the away side won another penalty to make it 4-4.

A shame that those late goals take the shine off Osei-Tutu’s performance, even though he had nothing to do with them. The loanee created three chances, completing both of his crosses and scoring with his only shot.

He also won three free-kicks, six of his eight duels and made two tackles and two interceptions.