The Wolves claimed a 3-0 victory at promoted side Fortuna Düsseldorf on Matchday 9 – the scoreline reflects how the visitors found the net at exactly the right times in an otherwise even encounter. Wout Weghorst converted from the penalty spot just before the break, Josip Brekalo's 73rd-minute strike then ended any Fortuna resistance, before Daniel Ginczek made certain of the points with ten minutes left on the clock. Both sides are in DFB Cup second-round action on Tuesday – Wolfsburg make the short trip to Hannover 96, while Düsseldorf meet SSV Ulm, who knocked out Eintracht Frankfurt in the first round.
Bruno Labbadia: „The team took to the game well today. It wasn't a particularly high-quality encounter in the opening stages, but it was really hard fought. That's exactly what I expected. Düsseldorf allowed us have the ball and we fought to stay solid, which wasn't easy. From that point of view, it was good that the team used a different style and played with two strikers up top. We scored at the right time and then there was a very, very good second goal – after that we looked really solid. All in all it was a good win that will help the side's development. We're very happy to have won the game as we did.“
Friedhelm Funkel: „After the heavy defeat in Frankfurt, we played well until Wolfsburg's first goal. Until they made it 1-0 we closed off the space so that they had very few chances. Then they got the penalty, which for me wasn't a penalty because the hand didn't make an active movement towards the ball. That was the turning point in the game. After I made some attacking changes on the hour they had more space and we weren't as solid at the back. We wanted to take more risks, but unfortunately that didn't pay off. We conceded the second and third goals due to individual errors. My team is of course very disappointed.“
