Saturday, October 18, 2008

Wolfsburg hits full stride

Felix Magath's Wolfsburg hit full stride today defeating Arminia Bielefeld 4-1 at Volkswagen Arena. The "Man of the Match" was certainly Zvjezdan Misimović who orchestrated a brilliant attack from the opening whistle.

Wolfsburg started fast with the emerging Bosnia and Herzegovina connection linking up only five minutes after the start with Edin Džeko crossing a ball in deep on the counter attack and Zvjezdan Misimović heading it into the net to give Wolfsburg the 1-0 lead. At the thirty-fourth minute Zvjezdan doubles the lead with his second goal by sending a ball to the back of the net from the center of the box. Wolfsburg continues to pressure with Edin Džeko narrowly missing a header a few minutes later. Zvjezdan Misimović continues his near perfect match as nine minutes after the break he crosses to Alexander Madlung at point blank range, who then heads the ball to the back of net to give Die Wölfe a commanding 3-1 lead. Fifteen minutes after the break Alexander Laas stops the celebration as he draws one back with a slick drive from the far right to the top left corner to make it 3-1. At the sixty-fourth minute Wolfsburg makes in 4-1 as Mahir Sağlık crosses to Grafite in the center of the box and he neatly slots it straight into the goal. Wolfsburg continues the pressure throughout the balance of the match but is unable to break through again and the match ends with a brilliant 4-1 victory.

The attacking trident of Zvjezdan Misimović,Edin Džeko and Grafite is starting to gel perfectly now and showing signs of being unstoppable. However what was most appealing for Wolfsburg supporters was the disciplined lines, movement and the recognition of defending concerns, all qualities that bode well for UEFA Cup action.

Wolfsburg
Diego Benaglio,Marcel Schäfer, Andrea Barzagli,Alexander Madlung,Sascha Riether,Makoto Hasebe,Christian Gentner,Zvjezdan Misimović,Ashkan Dejagah (Josué 45'),Edin Džeko (Mahir Sağlık 60'),Grafite (Caiuby 72')

Arminia Bielefeld
Dennis Eilhoff,Radim Kucera,Nico Herzig,Rüdiger Kauf,Markus Schuler,Markus Bollmann,Thorben Marx (Siyabonga Nkosi 72'),Alexander Laas (Daniel Halfar 80'),Robert Tesche (Berat Sadik 45'),Artur Wichniarek,Christopher Katongo