Football United

VfL Wolfsburg grabbed their first win since the winter break, as they emphatically beat lowly Hansa Rostock 4-0 in the ro0und 22 Bundesliga match in the VOLKSWAGENARENA. A strike by Andres D'Alessandro on 4 minutes, and a further goal by his compatriot Diego Klimowicz 3 minutes later put the Wolves into cruise control early on. Second half goals by Pablo Thiam (63.) and Tomislav Maric (83.) wrapped up what was a thoroughly deserved victory for coach Erik Gerets and his side.

All change
Wolfsburg’s coach Erik Gerets made five changes to the side which lost 0-3 away to Schalke in the previous round. In defence, the Belgian picked Rytter, Hofland and Schnoor, instead of Sarpei, Franz and Weiser. Up front, Fischer and Menseguez made room in the starting line-up for Petrov and D’Alessandro. Jörg Berger the Hansa coach, made three changes to the side which somewhat unluckily lost 1-2 away to Kaiseerslauetrn Last time out. Maul, Persson and di Salvo took the place of Tjikuzu, Lantz and David Rasmussen.

Early lead
The game was only a minute old as Thomas Brdaric spurned a golden opportunity to give his team the lead, and what would have been the perfect start. The German international striker found himself one on one with the Hansa keeper Schober, who reacted superbly to deny the Wolves striker. The disappointing crowd of only 17,836 needn’t have worried though, because on 4 minutes superb work by Rytter brought Klimowicz into a move which was superbly rounded off by Andres D'Alessandro who beat Schober from close range to give the home side the lead and of course calm the Wolfsburg nerves.

Brilliant move leads to 2-0
The Wolves had smelt blood and went at the visitors as if there was no tomorrow. On 7 minutes, Karhan played Brdaric in down the right wing. The Wolves goal-getter had no trouble reaching the by-line where he put in a pinpoint cross onto the head of the unmarked Klimowicwz who was lurking in the Rostock area. After that goal the visitors seemed to wake up and went close as Rydlewicz broke through the Wolfsburg defensive line and rounded keeper Jentzsch, only to be foiled by a splendid goal line clearance by the former Wolves skipper Schnoor.

Wolves in control
VfL Wolfsburg had the lion’s share of possession and after going two goals up seemed prepared to sit back and wait for Hansa to come at them. Rostock obliged… but without any real effect. It was the home side which always looked the more dangerous as missed chances by D’Alessandro, Petrov, Brdaric and Karhan before half time underlined. After the break the situation remained the same with the Wolves always in control. On 48 minutes, Klimowicz could have added to his season goal tally, but failed to do so, wasting another good chance.

Game over for Hansa
On 63 minutes, the home side went 3-0 up as Pablo Thiam latched onto an accurate free kick by Martin Petrov, which was brilliantly saved by Schober, who could only watch as Thiam headed home unchallenged from close range. That goal gave Erik Gerets’ side the confidence to drop down a gear and just control the game and their opponent. di Salvo was foiled by a stunning save by Jentzsch later on in the match, but the visiting side never really gave the impression that they could be a serious threat.

Icing on the cake
The Wolves front line had by no means had enough and scored what turned out to be the last goal of the match 7 minutes from time as their best player Karhan set the ball up for second half substitute Maric, who blasted home a pile driver from 8 metres out. So the Wolves have finally won their first game since the winter break. No doubt the victory will boost the confidence of the Wolves ahead of their round 23 trip to Kaiserslautern, who lost 1-2 in Hamburg in round 22. For Hansa Rostock, this defeat looked like further nail in their Bundesliga coffin. The East Coast side are now bottom of the table, ten points away from safety.

WOLFSBURG: Jentzsch; Rytter, Quiroga, Hofland, Schnoor; Karhan, Thiam; D'Alessandro; Brdaric, Klimowicz, M. Petrov.

HANSA ROSTOCK: Schober; Hartmann, Möhrle, K. Madsen, Maul; Persson; Rydlewicz, Litmanen, T. Rasmussen; Arvidsson, di Salvo.

GOALS: 1-0, D'Alessandro (4'); 2-0, Klimowicz (7'); 3-0, Thiam (63'); 4-0, T. Maric (83')

BUNDESLIGA

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Bayern 22 44
2. Schalke 21 41
3. Bremen 22 40
4. Leverkusen 22 38
5. Hamburg 22 37
...
8. Wolfsburg 22 33

Source: vfl-wolfsburg.de