That was a real feat: Bundesliga soccer club VfL Wolfsburg narrowly defeated the passionately fighting regional league club Carl Zeiss Jena in the first round of the DFB Cup on Saturday (07/30/2022).
The otherwise strong winger Omar Marmoush scored the golden goal to make it 1-0 (0-0) for VfL (90+2 minutes) and prevented Wolfsburg from going into extra time.
Wolfsburg striker Wind for Jena not to grab
Carl Zeiss Jena showed great commitment and serious ambitions to annoy the Bundesliga club. It was physically intense, especially in the midfield duels. Jena confidently moved up when they had possession of the ball.
Nevertheless, VfL Wolfsburg had the first chance of the game. After a filigree volley from Micky van de Ven, Lukas Nmecha’s ball rebounded to fellow striker Jonas Wind with a bit of luck. His instep was parried by Jena’s goalkeeper Kevin Kunz (9′).
Shortly thereafter, the focus was again on the Wolfsburg attacker. Wind jumped the most from a corner kick, aiming for the short corner in the opposite direction from Kunz’s course – but the header flitted delicately past the post (17′). Another spotless attack by the “Wolves” via Marmoush, Wind and Nmecha did not lead to the lead, Nmecha’s shot got stuck on Bastian Strietzel (25th).
Many fouls initially affect the flow of the game
The game became even more intense as a result, sometimes even rough. Jenas Jan Dahlke (23rd) and René Lange (27th) as well as Ridle Baku (25th) rightly saw yellow. Referee Florian Heft tried to calm down the heated game, which lost flow of play due to many fouls.
Wolfsburg kept the upper hand and created many potentially dangerous situations. A lot went over the nimble Marmoush after the tough foul phase of the game, but Carl Zeiss Jena then blocked many VfL attempts in the penalty area. The biggest challenge for VfL goalkeeper Koen Casteels was a low shot from Jena’s striker Maximilian Krauss after a small solo (39′).
Brave Jena plays better after the restart
The second section in the Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld started rapidly. Wind’s finish after great preliminary work from Baku crashed into the lower edge of the bar and then in front of the goal line (48th).
Justin Schau whirled for the north-east regional league team Jena. First he shook off Maxence Lacroix and Mattias Svanberg on the edge of the penalty area, but his potentially dangerous shot was blocked by the struggling Sebastiaan Bornauw (52′). Then he hit a cross that was deflected and caused danger at the second post (54′). Wolfsburg noticed: Jena got brave and played really well.
Nevertheless, the Bundesliga team remained dangerous, of course. Jakub Kaminski replaced Wind (65′) and then found himself all alone in the six-yard box after a Marmoush cross. The strong Jena keeper Kunz scratched the header off the line from an acute angle in a last-ditch effort (66′).
VfL switches to a back three in the final phase
The “Wolves” wanted to put more pressure on in the closing stages of the game. Coach Niko Kovac switched to a back three with Josuha Guilavogui in the centre, the 31-year-old veteran came on for Lacroix (65′).
As a result, Wolfsburg continued to press, but still found it difficult to play against the passionately fighting fourth division team. But he didn’t always act cleverly either. Symbolic: Joker Takero Itoi reported to referee Heft shortly after being brought in with a hard challenge against Baku and received a yellow card (78th).
Jena on the gums, Marmoush ice cold
Jena’s strength visibly dwindled, Schau and Jan Dahlke left the field completely exhausted, Justin Petermann and Max Grimm came in for them (85th). The power reserves became a factor for Carl Zeiss Jena.
And then it happened: Josip Brekalo brought a free kick into Jena’s penalty area, Marmoush climbed up, headed and René Lange deflected, so Kunz didn’t have a chance.