Lions escape Wolves' den with first win
Wolfsburg - Eintracht Braunschweig picked up a morale-boosting first win of the season with a counter-attacking 2-0 success against VfL Wolfsburg.
Lions take it late
The home side took a while to get going in the first-half, but when they did, two chances came in quick succession through Ivica Olic. His eighth and 15th minute efforts seemed certain to signify an increase in pressure on basement boys Braunschweig, but the visitors to the Wolves’ den were becoming more and more fearless with each foiled attack.
When Luiz Gustavo lost the ball in midfield in the 31st minute, Braunschweig broke swiftly to take the lead for the first time this season, Mirko Boland squaring from a one-on-one position to find Karim Bellarabi, who rolled the ball into the empty net.
Gustavo used the early period of the second-half to try and atone for that lost ball in midfield, but with Diego unusually quiet, Wolfsburg began to discover that Gustavo and Olic couldn’t do everything. Both men were dominant, Gustavo covered the most ground and Olic had the most shots, but the visiting Lions, led by Bellarabi's directness, were always a threat. Despite Ivan Perisic’s best efforts from distance, the most decisive action of the second period came up the other end.
Another Braunschweig breakaway led to another goal before the whistle, Marco Caligiuri’s lung-bursting run was followed by the midfielder rolling the ball across to set Domi Kumbela up in the 86th minute. The Lions’ top- scorer last season composed himself and rolled it past Diego Benaglio to make it 2-0 and send Braunschweig into delirium with their first Bundesliga win.
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