The Wolves and the newly promoted side from Lusatia shared the spoils in a turbulent 4-4 (3-1) draw on Matchday 4 of the 2. Bundesliga. Robert Glatzel (2) and Vinicius Souza gave the hosts an early 3-0 lead before Cottbus drew level. Mattias Svanberg restored the Green-and-Whites’ advantage, but VfL, down to ten men, conceded a stoppage-time equaliser to make it 4-4.
Glatzel at the double: Robert Glatzel scored his first two league goals in a VfL shirt against the Lusatians. The new signing from Hamburger SV was involved from the outset, holding the ball up well and winning an early penalty, which he converted himself in the fourth minute to make it 1-0. In the 34th minute, the striker added his second with a deft lob to put VfL 3-0 up and complete his brace.
Ahead early this time: Having come from behind in both the cup and at KSC, VfL found themselves in a different situation against Energie Cottbus. Rather than having to chase the game, the Wolves raced into a commanding 3-0 lead after just 34 minutes. Unlike in their previous two matches, however, they were unable to see out the win this time, with eight goals ultimately producing a 4-4 draw.
Run continues, home win eludes VfL: The Lower Saxony side remained unbeaten for a 28th consecutive 2. Bundesliga home game (13W, 15D), but once again missed out on all three points in front of their own fans against Energie Cottbus. Across all competitions, the Wolves have therefore still won just one of their 12 home games in the 2026 calendar year (5D, 6L) – a 2-1 victory over FC St. Pauli in January.
Evenly matched in attack: The numbers also reflected the end-to-end nature of the contest: the Green-and-Whites had the edge in expected goals, 3.82 to 3.05. Strobl’s side registered 19 attempts in total, while Cottbus had 21. There was also very little between the teams in terms of distance covered, with VfL holding a slight advantage (117 to 116.22 kilometres).
Striker wins fan vote: Robert Glatzel was the clear winner of the fans’ vote for “Player of the Match”. The striker received 67 per cent of the votes and played a major part in VfL’s 3-0 lead with his two goals. Alexander Bernhardsson finished second with 17 per cent, followed by Fabian Reese, who received eleven per cent of the votes.
Head-to-head:
- xGoals: 3.82 WOB – 3.05 FCE
- Shots: 19 WOB – 21 FCE
- Distance covered: 117 km WOB – 116.22 km FCE
- Possession: 51% WOB – 49% FCE
- Duels won: 57% WOB – 43% FCE
- Pass completion: 79% WOB – 81% FCE
- Successful dribbles: 75% WOB – 55% FCE
- Most distance covered: Kilian Fischer (WOB) 11.2 km – Tolcay Cigerci (FCE) 11.4 km
- Fastest player: Fabian Reese (WOB) 34.51 km/h – Luca Erlein (FCE) 33.92 km/h
