VfL Wolfsburg are through to the last 16 of the DFB Cup after beating second-division neighbours Eintracht Braunschweig 2-1. In a hard-fought contest, Mattias Svanberg put VfL ahead after eight minutes before Maurice Multhaup made it 1-1 five minutes before the interval. Jakub Kaminski proved to be the match-winner for the Green-and-Whites, completing the scoring in the 65th minute.
The Wolves will discover their last 16 opponents on Sunday 23 October, when the draw takes place at 19:15 CEST at the German Football Museum in Dortmund. They are back in Bundesliga action on Saturday 22 October, when they visit Bayer 04 Leverkusen (kick-off 15:30 CEST).
Goals
- 1-0 Svanberg (8’): Svanberg fires VfL ahead with his first goal for the Wolves. The Sweden international collects Sebastiaan Bornauw’s pass from the right before letting fly with his right foot. His effort isn’t particularly well-placed but slips through the grasp of Jasmin Fejzic.
- 1-1 Multhaup (40’): Braunschweig play a long ball to the edge of the Wolves’ penalty area. Multhaup controls it beautifully and lifts it beyond the onrushing Koen Casteels – an annoying goal to concede from the Wolves’ perspective.
- 2-1 Kaminski (65’): A crucial goal. Kaminski plays a lovely one-two with Lukas Nmecha before racing down the right of the penalty area and dinking the ball past Fejzic into the right corner of the net.
Coaches’ reaction
Niko Kovac: “It was a typical cup tie and a combative contest over 90 minutes. It wasn’t particularly pleasing on the eye but we expected that. We had to make sure we stood up to them and I think we did that well. I wasn’t that pleased in the first half because we could have finished our moves off better or added a second goal after going 1-0 up – but we were too sloppy. We did that better in the second half – the main thing is that we’re through.”
Michael Schiele: “It was a tough battle. I think we were very much in the game and created the first chance early on. It’s a pity it didn’t go in and our opponents put away their first opportunity. In the second half we didn’t clear the ball properly and conceded a goal. We covered a lot of ground after that but unfortunately couldn’t put the ball in the net. It’s a shame we didn’t score more – or opponents were cleverer than us.”
Line-ups and stats
Eintracht Braunschweig: Fejzic – de Medina (53‘ Kijewski), Schultz, Wiebe – Multhaup, Krauße, Donkor, Pherai (29‘ Ihorst), K. Endo (78‘ Ujah) – Kaufmann, Lauberbach
Subs: R. Hoffmann (GK), Decarli, Marx, Br. Henning, Kischka, Pena Zauner
VfL Wolfsburg: Casteels – Baku, Bornauw, van de Ven, Otavio – Arnold (74’ Guilavogui), Svanberg (66‘ F. Nmecha), Gerhardt, Wimmer (80‘ Paredes), Kaminski – L. Nmecha (66‘ Marmoush)
Subs: Pervan (GK), Fischer, Lacroix, Waldschmidt, Wind
Goals: 1-0 Svanberg (8‘), 1-1 Multhaup (40‘), 2-1 Kaminski (65‘)
Yellow Cards: Schultz, Lauberbach, Krauße, Multhaup / Bornauw, van de Ven, Wimmer, Paulo Otavio
Referee: Daniel Schlager (Rastatt)
Attendance: 22,000 at Eintracht-Stadium
