Wolfsburg are still searching for their first home win of the season after a 2-0 loss to Mainz
Wolfsburg are still searching for their first home win of the season after a 2-0 loss to Mainz

Wolfpack punished by Mainz

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Wolfsburg - 1. FSV Mainz 05 claimed their first away win of the 2012/13 Bundesliga season as they beat Felix Magath's struggling VfL Wolfsburg 2-0 in the final encounter of Matchday 6.

Wolfsburg dominant

Mainz were the unlikely winners as Junior Diaz's first Bundesliga goal and Adam Szalai's neat finish put them 2-0 up at the break and, though Wolfsburg stepped it up a gear, the visitors maintained a clean sheet after the interval against their dominant hosts.

Wolfsburg looked much sharper than they had in the 3-0 defeat against Bayern Munich during midweek, with Vieirinha at the heart of their most promising moments. The Portuguese midfielder went close six minutes into the game after a good individual effort before finding Olic in the box, whose header flew over the crossbar.

At the other end Nico Bungert gave the home side a first warning in the 20th minute when his attempt after a corner went just over. However, as Wolfsburg continued to dictate the game's rhythm, with Vieirinha, Christian Träsch and Emanuel Pogetetz all going close to scoring, it came as a surprise to most when Diaz headed a free-kick over Diego Benaglio to give Mainz the lead.

Szalai decisive


Despite maintaining the pressure, Wolfsburg were caught cold again eleven minutes later when Szalai proved how efficiencient he could be in front of goal, as he slotted in Andreas Ivanschitz's precise cross to score his third of the season.

Magath made two changes at half time, bringing in Dost and Ferhan Fasani and switching his line-up to a 4-4-2. Yet for all their possession and dominance, Wolfsburg efforts mostly ended in limited success as the lively Vieirinha shot wide and Hasani on his Bundesliga debut failed to get the better of Mainz's goalkeeper Christian Wetklo just after the break.

Olic wasteful


Likewise, Pogatetz should have done better near to the hour mark when he nodded a corner over before Olic squandered the Niedersachsen side's greatest opportunity when his header failed to find the target despite the fact he was totally unmarked.

It was all one-way traffic, but Mainz's organised backline continued to frustrate the hosts. Vieirinha had his header palmed away after 68 minutes and though the desperation levels rose considerably in Wolfsburg's performance, they found it increasingly difficult to find a way past the deep-lying hosts. Naldo could have pulled the Wolves back into the game (87') as he tried to slot the ball through Wetklo's legs, while Olic could only hit the side-netting in the dying minutes as the Wolves failed to claw their way back into the game.

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