The soccer players of VfL Wolfsburg have qualified for the quarter-finals in the Soccer Champions League. Coach Tommy Stroot’s team beat AS Roma 4-2 (2-1) at home and benefited from the draw in the second game of the group.
In the fourth game, the “Wolves” celebrated their third victory in front of 2,711 fans in their own stadium. In the first leg in Rome, the VfL women managed to draw 1-1. However, they had to pay dearly for the win in the second leg: attacker Jill Roord left the pitch injured in the tenth minute – and immediately disappeared into the dressing room. Lucky in misfortune for the hosts: Sveindis Jonsdottir, who came on for Roord, put her team on the road to victory.
Late in the evening, Wolfsburg was able to celebrate reaching the quarter-finals because St. Pölten couldn’t get past a draw against Slavia Prague. It is already clear that the North Germans in the preliminary round group B can no longer be pushed out of one of the two first places.
Wolfsburg picks up speed – and brakes itself
As in the first comparison, the Romans started courageously and immediately put pressure on Wolfsburg. It became dangerous a few times down the left side of the hosts. However, the Italians didn’t take the lead this time: In the seventh minute, goalkeeper Merle Frohms saved Emilie Haavi in dire straits. Lena Oberdorf then set an example with a courageous boarding, but had to survive the rest of the season with a yellow card. At this point, VfL had already had to cope with Roord’s absence.
VfL Wolfsburg – AS Roma in shorthand:
Gates: 1-0 Pajor (24′), 2-0 Jonsdottir (40′), 2-1 Andressa Alves (42′), 3-1 Lattwein (52′), 4-1 Pajor (53′)
VfL Wolfsburg: Frohms – Wilms, Hendrich, Janssen, Rauch – Lattwein, Oberdorf (63 Hegering) – Huth (90 + 3 Blomqvist), Roord (12 Jonsdottir), Popp (63 Brand) – Pajor (63 Waßmuth)
AS Roma: Ceasar – Bartoli, Wenninger, Linari, Minami – Greggi, Giugliano, Andressa Alves (Lazaro 75) – Glionna, Giacinti (Haug 63), Haavi (Haavi 63)
The women from Lower Saxony needed a bit to warm up when the temperatures were around freezing. With great chances from Alexandra Popp (20th) and Ewa Pajor (21st), Stroot’s team was in the game and quickly rewarded themselves: Jokerin Jonsdottir broke through on the left and Pajor converted the half-high cross with a diving header to make it 1-0 (24th minute). ).
The goal did the game good. Rome continued to push forward, but Wolfsburg also had chances. In the 40th minute, the “wolves” followed suit: Jonsdottir found a through ball and the Icelander shot the ball under the bar to make it 2-0. The fact that the North Germans didn’t go into the break with this reassuring result was down to themselves. Lena Lattwein made a hair-raising bad pass in the build-up. And Frohms, who rushed back, didn’t look the best when Andressa Alves shot from long-range.
Double Strike paves the way to victory
But VfL quickly made up for this faux pas after the break. After a corner, there was a lot going on in the Italian penalty area. Lattwein was the only one who kept a cool head and scored to make it 3-1 (52nd). And less than 60 seconds later it was 4:1. Popp sent Svenja Huth over the right, and Pajor headed in her buttery cross.
The Romans tried again for a quick answer. But Haavi failed again at the goalkeeper (57th) in front of Frohms. The Italians didn’t give up – and didn’t let themselves be irritated by a Wolfsburg triple change. Frohms was there again against Annamaria Serturini (72′), Sophie Haug then scored to make it 2-4 from an Italian perspective (76′). After that, however, the “wolves” got more calm into the game. In the end, Wolfsburg deservedly won, especially since VfL also missed a few chances.
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NDR 2 Sports | 08.12.2022 | 11:03 p.m