Wolves back on track with Bremen win

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Wolfsburg - VfL Wolfsburg returned to winning ways with a deserved 2-1 victory at home to SV Werder Bremen at the Volkswagen Arena on Saturday evening.

Rodriguez on target again

Ricardo Rodriguez grabbed his third of the season to put the hosts in front, before Bremen teenager Marnon Busch levelled the scores prior to the break. However, Ivica Olic scored a superb second-half header to hand Wolfsburg their second win this term.

Bremen initially gave no indication that they were coming into this match on the back of two successive defeats, and without a single victory to their name this season. Coach Robin Dutt’s charges pressed their hosts aggressively from the start and marked Wolfsburg wide men Kevin De Bruyne and Ivan Perisic very tightly, thus stopping the supply line to veteran marksman Olic.

However, the visitors were caught out after a quarter of an hour when former Bremen midfielder Aaron Hunt initiated a counterattack by playing the ball quickly to De Bruyne. The Belgian playmaker darted forward, spotted Rodriguez overlapping on the left and played a delightful pass for the left-back to dink coolly over Bremen custodian Raphael Wolf.

Olic strikes


Bremen kept their cool, though, and continued to probe the Wolves’ backline as half-time approached. They were rewarded when 19-year-old defender Busch rifled in a powerful drive from the right-hand edge of the penalty area, squeezing his effort inside Diego Benaglio’s near post for his first ever Bundesliga goal, allowing the visitors to go into the break on level terms.

That goal gave Bremen a boost going into the second period and they immediately sought to capitalise on their dominance. Nils Petersen and Izet Hajrovic both went close early on, but Benaglio saved well each time. They were soon made to pay for those misses when second-half substitute Vieirinha crossed to the back post, where Olic stooped to head in past a wrong-footed Wolf.

Bremen still winless


With a second victory of the season now in sight, Wolfsburg appeared determined not to relinquish their lead again and pushed for a third. They went within a whisker of getting it too, when Bremen struggled to clear their lines and an opportunistic back-heeled effort from Hunt rolled just past the post.

The visitors threw everything forward in the closing stages but the Wolves held firm and successfully ran down the clock. The victory took their points tally to eight, while condemning their guests to a third defeat in a row and leaving them at the wrong end of the table.

Line-ups and statistics

Jonathan Stockitt