After dominating the first half, the Wolves took the lead early on in the second period thanks to a John Brooks header. However, the visitors burst into life after that and equalised through Max Kruse to take a point back to Bremen. The result sees the Green-Whites drop out of the top six on goal difference ahead of next Saturday’s visit to FC Bayern Munich (kick-off 15:30 CET).
First start for Klaus
Head coach Bruno Labbadia made two changes from the side that won 3-0 at Borussia Mönchengladbach last Saturday, handing a full debut to Felix Klaus. Admir Mehmedi also came into the side as Renato Steffen and Josip Brekalo dropped to the bench.
Wolves dominate first half
After a quiet opening period, VfL began to take control of the game, but they found it hard to create clear-cut chances, with Bremen placing almost everyone behind the ball. The best opportunities came within a couple of minutes of each other towards the end of the first half. First Wout Weghorst narrowly failed to make contact with Klaus’ curling delivery towards goal, before Mehmedi had a shot blocked from Maximilian Arnold’s corner.
Brooks goal not enough for victory
Labbadia’s men continued to dominate proceedings after the restart and created the best opportunity of the game so far in the 52nd minute when Mehmedi set up Klaus from close range with a brilliant bit of skill, but Bremen goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka came out and smothered. Two minutes later, however, the Wolves finally made the breakthrough when Brooks rose highest to meet Arnold’s free-kick and head in the opener. That goal forced the visitors to go on the offensive and they tested substitute goalkeeper Pavao Pervan, who had come on for the injured Koen Casteels at half-time, for the first time with a low shot from Maximilian Eggestein in the 65th minute. With the pressure from Bremen increasing, they levelled the score on 74 minutes as Kruse escaped his marker and met Eggestein’s cross with a volley from close range. Subsequently, neither side came close to finding a winner, as they settled for a share of the spoils.
VfL Wolfsburg: Casteels (Pervan 46’) – William, Brooks, Knoche, Roussillon – Arnold, Gerhardt, Guilavogui – Mehmedi – Klaus (Rexhbecaj 78’), Weghorst
SV Werder Bremen: Pavlenka – Gebre Selassie, Langkamp (Veljkovic 42‘), Moisander, Augustinsson – M. Eggestein, Bargfrede (Möhwald 82‘), Klaasen – J. Eggestein, Kruse, Rashica (Pizarro 68‘)
Goals: Brooks (54’), Klaus (74’)
Yellow cards: / M. Eggestein, Augustinsson
Attendance: 28,101
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Berlin)
