No goals in first leg…

VfL Wolfsburg could only draw 0-0 at home to the French first division side RC Lens, in their Intertoto Cup semi-final first leg tie, played in front of only 10,511 in the VOLKSWAGEN ARENA on Wednesday evening (27.07.05). The game was low on goalmouth action, and one of the few chances of the game fell to Mirko Hrgovic just before half time. On the other side, the Wolves keeper Simon Jentzsch kept his side in the tie as he saved well from the Lens striker Aruna Dindane towards the end of the match…

Early chances

The paltry crowd in Wolfsburg almost had reason to celebrate early on, but the Wolfsburg defender Facundo Quiroga miss hit his effort and the danger passed. On 5 minutes, Simon Jentzsch was called into action as he was forced to make a save against Issam Jemaa. After that early action, both sides concentrated on cancelling each other out so the game became a dull affair.

Hrgovic misses, Jentzsch saves the Wolves

Mirko Hrgovic, who together with the ever-busy Menseguez, played down the wings in an effort to open up the well-organised French defence, had a good scoring chance on 31 minutes as he was played in by Andres D' Alessandro. The Bosnian was unable to take the chance and screwed his shot well wide of the Lens goal. It was to be the last chance for the left footed winger, because he was replaced by new signing Mike Hanke at the start of the second half

Second half stalemate

The introduction of Hanke didn’t help the Wolves’ cause much. He like many of his team mates continued to play below their usual standard as both sides concentrated on defending. Eight minutes from time, the Wolves were kept in the game as their keeper Jentzsch did well to keep out an effort by Aruna Dindane. In the second leg to be played in France in 7 days time, the Wolves will need at least a goal to keep their hopes of reaching the final alive.

Fach confident despite setback

"We had difficulty in finding our way into the match during the first 20 minutes; we showed them too much respect. After that we should have taken the lead, but we didn’t have the power to break them down. It is not over yet, I am convinced that we can survive in France", said the Wolves coach Holger Fach after the match.

Match details:

VfL Wolfsburg: Jentzsch - Karhan, Quiroga, Hofland, Weiser (76. Schnoor) - Fischer, Thiam - D 'Alessandro - Menseguez, Hrgovic (46. Hanke) - Klimowicz (84. Topic) 

RC Lens: Itandje - Demont, Coulibaly, Hilton, Assou-Ekotto - Bak, Keita - Carriere (85. Barul), Jomaa - Cousin (68. Jussie), Bakari (68. Dindane) 

Attendance: 10,511

Referee: Bozinovski (Macedonia)

Yellow cards: -/Assou-Ekotto, Jemaa, Keita