One day after the 3-1 defeat away to 1. FC Köln in their opening fixture of the second half of the Bundesliga season, the Wolves returned to winning ways in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Bundesliga 2 side Hannover on Sunday. Felipe headed the visitors in front (21’) on the pitch next to the AOK Stadion, before Renato Steffen (41’) and Admir Mehmedi (81’) turned the game around for the Green-and-Whites, who had winter recruit Pongracic making his first appearance in a VfL shirt. There were two penalty saves in the closing stages as first Hannover goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler denied Mehmedi (85’) before Pavao Pervan kept out Cedric Teuchert’s spot-kick in the first minute of stoppage time.
Post-match reaction
Oliver Glasner: “That was a very good test. We had some problems getting into the game in the first 20 minutes, but then we got better and better. I’m very happy with the second half in particular as we put together a lot of good moves and created chances to score. I’m very satisfied.”
Marin Pongracic: “It did me a lot of good to play again after a long time on the sidelines. Now I want to get back to my previous levels of form and fitness and kick on from there. I already feel great in Wolfsburg. The boys have welcomed me really well, they system is similar to the one in Salzburg and I like the whole environment.”
VfL Wolfsburg: Pervan – William, Pongracic (45’ Bruma), Knoche, Otavio – Siersleben (68’ May), Gerhardt – Steffen (68’ Karamoko), Mehmedi, Victor – Klaus
Hannover 96: Zieler – Korb, Anton, Felipe, Horn – Bakalorz – Stendera, Haraguchi, Albornoz – Guidetti (77‘ Hansson), Teuchert
Goals: 0-1 Felipe (21‘), 1-1 Steffen (41‘), 2-1 Mehmedi (81‘)
