VfL Wolfsburg have also won their second test-friendly of the New Year. One day after the 3-1 win over second division FC St. Pauli, the Wolves again rose to the challenge of the league competitors of Friday’s opponents from Hamburg, SG Dynamo Dresden, and ended their second test-friendly of the training-camp in Spain with a 2-1 (2-0) victory. The goals for the Green-Whites at the Marbella Football Center were scored by Nany Landry Dimata (29') and Paul Verhaegh (45'), who confidently converted from the penalty-spot. Dresden’s consolation-goal was scored by Marco Hartmann (59').
Dimata and Verhaegh put the Wolves ahead
Dresden have been in Marbella, preparing for the second half of the season, since Thursday, whilst the Wolves have been in Spain a day longer. The fact that both sides have been through several intensive training sessions under the Spanish sun became quite apparent early on, with much of the play confined to the centre of the park and chances on goal proving few and far between. In the 29th minute, Dimata then latched on to a misplaced back-pass by Jannik Müller, to make it 1-0 for the Wolves. And the Dynamo man was again unwillingly involved in Wolfsburg’s second goal, as he felled Marvin Stefaniak in the area and left the referee no alternative but to point to the spot. Verhaegh didn’t flinch for a second and fired confidently into the bottom right corner, to make it 2-0 for the Green-Whites at the break (45').
Hartmann reduced the deficit
In the second period, it was Dresden who initially put the pressure on and were ultimately rewarded for their determined efforts with a goal. From a corner, Florian Ballas flicked a header on and Hartmann was perfectly placed to force the ball over the VfL goal-line (59'). In the end, the Wolves held out to claim a deserved, when narrow, 2-1 win.
Team evening for the Wolves
The Wolves will remain in Marbella until Monday, as they prepare to get the second half of their campaign underway with an away trip to Borussia Dortmund in eight days’ time. Before making the return trip to Wolfsburg, coach Martin Schmidt’s men have a couple of intensive training sessions ahead of them. In order to ensure the hard work is also combined with fun, on Saturday, the players will enjoy a team-evening.
Dynamo Dresden 1st half: Schubert – Kreuzer, J. Müller, Franke, Heise – Konrad – Horvath, Aosman, Hauptmann, Berko – Mlapa
SG Dynamo Dresden 2nd half: Schubert – Seguin, Ehlers, Ballas, F. Müller – Hartmann – Möschl, Lambertz, Benatelli, Duljevic - Röser
VfL Wolfsburg: Grün (46' Menzel) – Verhaegh (65' William), Knoche (75' Bazoer), Tisserand (65' Uduokhai), Jung (46' Guilavogui) – Arnold (65' G.-L. Itter), Gerhardt (65' Rexhbecaj) – Hinds (65' Osimhen), Didavi (46' Malli), Stefaniak (65' Ntep) – Dimata (65' Origi)
Goals: 0-1 Dimata (29'), 0-2 Verhaegh (45'/pen.), 1-2 Hartmann (59')
Yellow cards: J. Müller, Hartmann / -
