VfL Wolfsburg’s U17s have made a successful start to the new DFB youth league season. Head coach Christian Stegmaier’s side ran out 5-1 (0-1) winners at Hertha BSC on Sunday. After a slightly nervous start and a sending-off for the hosts, the young Wolves played with a man advantage from the 16th minute but initially fell behind. The Green-and-Whites turned the game around in the second half and, thanks to a strong finish, celebrated an emphatic opening-day victory.
Behind despite man advantage
In sweltering summer temperatures, both teams initially needed a few minutes to settle into the game. VfL then became increasingly dangerous and had a man advantage from the 16th minute, when Hertha’s Ferdinand Brune brought down Lenn Grupe as he raced clear and was shown a red card. The young Wolves subsequently created a number of good chances. In the 33rd minute, Matei Padure struck the post before Hertha’s goalkeeper saved Grupe’s header from the rebound. Instead of Wolfsburg taking the lead, however, it was the hosts who went 1-0 up shortly afterwards. After VfL lost possession in the centre, the Berlin side broke quickly and Joey Ewald finished off the counter-attack (36’). Wolfsburg therefore went into the break trailing.
Five goals after the break
Alexej Jewtschuk replaced Joud El Jurdi for the second half. VfL now played with greater purpose and got their reward in the 56th minute, when Yvan Simo Kom curled a direct free-kick into the net from around 18 metres to score the deserved equaliser. The hosts began to tire as the game wore on, while Wolfsburg grew increasingly assured in possession. Simo Kom eventually turned the game on its head with a superb strike from the edge of the penalty area into the top corner (77’). Just three minutes later, substitute Luan Lazzara made it 3-1 with a low shot from a position to the left of centre (80’). Simo Kom then capitalised on a mistake in Hertha’s build-up play to complete his hat-trick (82’). Elia Zimmermann rounded off the scoring, heading home Nikola Isailovic’s cross to make it 5-1 (90’).
“Increasingly assured in our combinations”
Christian Stegmaier: “In the sweltering summer temperatures, it was a slightly nervous start from both sides. After the opening few minutes, though, we settled into the game more and more and became increasingly dangerous. We had a really good spell after the sending-off, but then became a little careless with our defensive cover and fell behind. We made a few adjustments at half-time and wanted to move the opposition around more quickly and play with greater purpose towards goal. After the equaliser, we became increasingly assured in our combinations. Towards the end, our substitutes also showed what they can do.”
VfL Wolfsburg U17: Gruner – El Jurdi (46’ Jewtschuk), Filbry, Schönhoff, Sauermann (86’ Maloku) – Padure (86’ Jaenke), Garcia Noto (69’ Lazzara) – Mhana (61’ Isailovic), Grupe (62’ Ullrich), Zimmermann – Simo Kom
Goals: 1-0 Ewald (36’), 1-1 Simo Kom (56’), 1-2 Simo Kom (77’), 1-3 Lazzara (80’), 1-4 Simo Kom (82’), 1-5 Zimmermann (90’)
