After registering back-to-back friendly wins earlier this month, VfL Wolfsburg were held to their first stalemate of pre-season on Saturday afternoon as they drew 2-2 with VVV-Venlo.
The Dutch top-flight side took the lead through Elia Soriano six minutes before the break, but the Wolves equalised early in the second half when Felix Klaus fired home from the penalty spot (51’). William put VfL ahead two minutes later, before Johnatan Opoku restored parity once again with 14 minutes remaining. New signing Xaver Schlager made his first appearance for VfL against the Eredivisie club.
The Green-Whites face another tough opponent on Wednesday when they take on PSV Eindhoven in a friendly at the Philips Stadion. Two days later, Oliver Glasner and his players travel to Schladming, Austria, for a nine-day training camp.
"Shows that things don't just happen automatically"
VfL head coach Glasner: “When we’re as limp as we were in the first half there’s no point in discussing tactics. We were just very poor in the tackle in that first half. We needed to be tighter to our opponents, which is why it wasn’t a very good game in the first half. In the second half we started with a very different energy. We were more ambitious and more convincing in the tackle. How we played in the second half - that’s exactly how I want us to perform. There’s plenty to analyse from this game. We’re still finding ourselves, but I’m pleased when things don’t always go to plan. That shows that things don't just happen automatically and we can work on them. That’s why today’s game was so important.
VfL Wolfsburg | First half line-up: Pervan – Knoche, Brooks, Uduokhai – Mbabu, Schlager, Malli, Roussillon – Mehmedi, Weghorst, Victor
VfL Wolfsburg | Second half line-up: Menzel – Siersleben, Arnold, Gerhardt – William, Rexhbecaj, Steffen, Yeboah – Azzaoui, Klaus, Brekalo
VVV-Venlo: Kirschbaum – Dekker, Röseler, Kum (60’ Schäfer), R. Janssen – Linthorst, Post, Neudecker – Sinclair (60’ Wienhoven), Soriano (60’ Opoku), v. Ooijen
Goals: 0-1 Soriano (39’), 1-1 Klaus (pen., 51’), 2-1 William (53’), 2-2 Opoku (76’)
Yellow cards: Mbabu/R. Janssen
Referee: Robert Schröder (Hannover)
