VfL Wolfsburg used the long international break to put themselves to the test on Thursday afternoon. In a friendly against third-tier side TSV Havelse, played on the B pitch in front of the VfL-Center, head coach Tobias Strobl’s Wolves ran out 4-1 (3-0) winners. Muhammed Damar made the biggest impression on the game, finding the net three times (13’/33’/89’). Fabian Reese scored the other Green-and-Whites goal (2’).
Off to a flying start
Havelse had barely had time to settle before the ball was already in the net. Reese gave Tom Opitz in the visitors’ goal no chance with a low shot (2’). The third-tier side always looked to make things happen going forward themselves, but had plenty of defending to do, particularly before the break. Damar made it 2-0 with a well-worked goal, firing into the bottom-left corner from the right-hand side of the box (13’), before Reese almost added a third (20’). At the other end, first Kilian Fischer (21’) and then Maximilian Arnold (29’) had to intervene to snuff out the danger. When Tobias Strobl’s side – who were without the injured players and internationals as well as Hauke Wahl (load management) – began to apply more sustained attacking pressure again, Damar pounced on the rebound from an Arnold shot to convert the best of several Green-and-White opportunities and grab his second of the game (33’).
Two more goals ruled out
After the restart, with the rain soon pouring down, the numerous goalscoring opportunities continued, albeit with a different balance. Havelse kicked off a spell of sustained pressure with a curling effort towards the top corner that Pavao Pervan did well to save (50’), followed by several more attempts (52’/54’/55’/60’). With the game now much more open, Damar (54’), Aaron Zehnter (64’) and Robert Glatzel (67’/81’) – who also had two goals ruled out – had several chances to extend the lead. Nevertheless, TSV deservedly pulled one back through Robin Velasco, whose shot took an unstoppable deflection (78’). The Wolves had the final say, however, as Damar restored a more fitting margin of victory with his third goal of the day, a left-footed strike from a central position (89’). It was Damar’s first hat-trick for VfL.
