VfL Wolfsburg with lackluster victory at 1. FC Heidenheim

One week after their successful start to competitive play in the DFB-Pokal, VfL Wolfsburg, under new coach Paul Simonis, also made a successful start to their Bundesliga campaign. The "Wolves" beat 1. FC Heidenheim 3-1 (1-1) on Saturday.

Simonis demonstrated a fortunate touch, bringing on two of the eventual goalscorers, Mattias Svanberg and Mohamed Amoura. In a largely weak Bundesliga match, Andreas Skov Olsen and Léo Scienza scored in the first half for VfL Wolfsburg and Heidenheim, respectively. The win was deserved, as Wolfsburg were the better team.

The Lower Saxony team now has two home games coming up in the league. Next Sunday (3:30 p.m., on the NDR Livecenter ) they host 1. FSV Mainz 05. After the international break, newly promoted 1. FC Köln will visit the Mittelland Canal on September 13 (also at 3:30 p.m., on the NDR Livecenter ).

In the 9-0 cup victory against Hemelingen, VfL returnee Dzenan Pejčinović (who was on loan to Düsseldorf) stood out with three goals, and the 20-year-old almost added another after just two minutes in Heidenheim: from twelve meters, however, he put the ball just wide of the right post.

A short time later, the hosts were lucky again: their goalkeeper Diant Ramaj robustly cleared the onrushing Patrick Wimmer after a botched back pass from Tim Siersleben and was shown a yellow card. Although the incident took place well outside the penalty area, a red card for Ramaj would have been justifiable, as the goalkeeper was the last man in the game (5').

After an otherwise uneventful first quarter of an hour, Wolfsburg increased the pressure a bit. Their more aggressive play was promptly rewarded with the opening goal: FCH failed to clear several crosses properly, and Wimmer finally crossed to Skov Olsen, who beautifully curled the ball into the top corner from 23 meters (20').

With the lead behind them, the "Wolves" now controlled the game, letting the ball and their opponents run, and had another chance to score with Maximilian Arnold's long-range shot (24'). However, they then conceded the equalizer almost out of nowhere: Scienza curled a free kick past the wall and into the corner of the goal – goalkeeper Kamil Grabara didn't look good in the process (29').

VfL continued to be the more pleasing team, but they created a plethora of chances: Pejčinović headed over from five meters (36'), Wimmer sprinted onto a backpass from Jan Schöppner, but then couldn't get the ball past Ramaj (38'). After a corner, Wimmer again missed the target with a direct shot (39'), and shortly after, Siersleben made a desperate save from a ready-to-score Skov Olsen (40').

Wolfsburg also had the first goal-scoring opportunity of the second period: Ramaj just barely parried Arnold's powerful effort from a good 25 meters with his fingertips (49th minute). But the Lower Saxony side were far from the flood of chances they had in the final stages of the first half. The game petered out, with goal-scoring opportunities in short supply.

VfL coach Simonis brought on two fresh attacking players, Amoura and Svanberg (64'). The move paid off just two minutes later, when Svanberg, after a perfect run, headed in a buttery-soft cross from Arnold to make it 2-1 (66').

Six minutes before the end, substitute number two also scored: Wimmer sent Amoura on his way with a long pass, but the Wolfsburg striker was brought down by Ramaj. The fouled player converted the resulting penalty himself (87'). These two successful moves were enough for VfL to secure the win. Heidenheim found no way past the composed "Wolves," who thus gave their coach a perfect start to the league.