The first step is complete. The young Wolves’ U19s claimed a 2-0 (0-0) victory away to BSV Kickers Emden in the Lower Saxony Cup to book their place in the quarter-finals.
Patience before the break
Head coach Niklas Bräuer’s side took control early on in Emden and enjoyed plenty of possession. Initially, however, the young Wolves struggled to find their rhythm. They lacked the necessary precision and clarity when playing through the middle, meaning that despite seeing plenty of the ball, VfL rarely posed a threat in the final third. The hosts kept things compact and gave little away, but offered very little going forward themselves. As a result, the teams went into the dressing rooms goalless.
Improvement after the restart
The young Wolves were much more purposeful after the break. Their play began to click, VfL increasingly attacked down the flanks and started to create more chances. In the 52nd minute, Otto Paananen rewarded the team’s improved performance by making it 1-0. Just nine minutes later, Bent Peters doubled the lead following a similar attack down the right (62’). VfL remained alert out of possession too and comfortably saw out the game from there.
“Handled it very professionally”
Niklas Bräuer: Credit to the boys. It was a good opportunity, particularly for the players who haven’t had as much game time recently, to show what they can do – and they handled it very professionally in the second half. Overall, it was a valuable experience for us to come through an away game in front of around 300 spectators in a real cup atmosphere.
VfL Wolfsburg U19: Herrewig – Balde, Furuseth, Mahncke, Horn – van der Vorst, Peters (74. Iwuala) – Paananen, Danioko, Blessing (65. Mißbach) – Vajagic (65. John)
Goals: 0-1 Paananen (52’), 0-2 Peters (61’)
