Sporty with difficulty and this time without a sixth change: Bundesliga soccer club VfL Wolfsburg narrowly avoided an embarrassment when their new coach Niko Kovac made his competitive debut.
In a hard-fought game at regional league club Carl Zeiss Jena, Lower Saxony won 1-0 (0-0) in the first round of the DFB Cup.
Omar Marmoush (90 + 2) decided the game late in favor of the wolves, Jena moved for long stretches at eye level. In the league, things will get serious for VfL for the first time next Saturday in front of their home crowd in a northern duel with newly promoted Werder Bremen.
Last year, Wolfsburg failed under strange circumstances in the first round: The team of the then newly hired coach Mark van Bommel won 3-1 after extra time at the regional league team Preußen Münster, but was eliminated at the green table because the Dutchman had changed once too often.
Kovac had ruled out a similar incident. “I got a note with everything clearly written on it,” he said, laughing. In midfield, where the new captain Maximilian Arnold and veteran Max Kruse were missing, the coach opted for Mattias Svanberg and Patrick Wimmer.
VfL Wolfsburg temporarily without ideas
VfL first underlined that they didn’t want to leave any doubts about victory, at least in terms of sport. National player Lukas Nmecha tested Jena’s goalkeeper Kevin Kunz (8th). A lively game developed in which the regional league team also repeatedly set their own accents. But it was Wolfsburg who were responsible for the occasional promising action in front of goal.
Two minutes after the restart, the guests were only centimeters from the lead. A direct shot from the back by Jonas Wind jumped off the bottom of the bar just in front of the goal line. On the other side, Maxence Lacroix blocked Jena’s most dangerous attack to date.
After that, the underdog got stronger and took control of the game. VfL lacked ideas until Jakub Kaminski, who had come on as a substitute seconds earlier, forced Kunz to do a brilliant job on his debut in the Wolfsburg jersey (66′). The wolves then continued to attack, Jena increasingly limited themselves to defensive work. Marmoush redeemed the favorite with a header.