VfL Wolfsburg’s DFB Cup journey continues! The Wolves earned a narrow 1-0 win over defending champions RB Leipzig to knock them out of the competition in the second round thanks to Vaclav Cerny’s first goal for VfL.
There were only 30 seconds on the clock when the Green-and-Whites carved out the first chance of the game, but Tiago Tomas’ effort from the right-hand side of the penalty area was saved by Peter Gulacsi.
Leipzig shook off that early breach of their defence and began dominating possession, although their attacking efforts were well stifled by the VfL rearguard. Niko Kovac’s side struck out of the blue in the 14th minute when Cerny collected a lovely pass from Tomas to smash the ball high into the net.
Leipzig forward Yussuf Poulsen was later sent off for a second bookable offence (55’), giving VfL a numerical advantage, although the visitors continued to apply pressure and went close to equalising through a fierce Lois Openda volley (71’). However, the Wolves stood firm and almost scored a second through substitute Jonas Wind (90’+6) before celebrating their ticket to the last 16.
Niko Kovac: “That was a proper cup battle today. We didn’t really allow them any chances at all. I’d have liked us to have a bit more possession, especially when we had an extra man, but after losing three consecutive games it was important for us to fight and see the result over the line. That’s what the team did, and they deserve credit for that.”
Marco Rose: “We allowed Wolfsburg to score and invited them on to us another time following a lapse in concentration. But other than that, we had everything under control. It was a decent performance from us, although we didn’t create enough clear-cut chances and weren’t purposeful, incisive or hungry enough. That spells the end of a wonderful journey for us. We won back-to-back DFB Cups, but we won’t get another one this season. Having said that, the boys tried everything right until the end.”
VfL Wolfsburg: Pervan – Bornauw, Lacroix, Zesiger – Baku (74‘ Maehle), Svanberg, Vranckx (81‘ Arnold), Gerhardt – Cerny (65‘ Paredes), Tomas (74‘ Wind), Kaminski (81‘ Majer)
Subs: Schulze (GK), Cozza, Jenz, Pejcinovic
RB Leipzig: Gulacsi – Henrichs, Klostermann, Lukeba (73‘ Simakan), Raum – Haidara (80‘ Baumgartner), Schlager (73‘ Kampl) – Xavi, Werner (73‘ Sesko) – Openda (86‘ Carvalho), Poulsen
Subs: Blaswich (GK), Lenz, Forsberg, Seiwald
Goal: 1-0 Cerny (14‘)
Yellow cards: Lacroix, Vranckx, N. Kovac, Baku, Pervan, Paredes / Schlager, Lukeba, Simakan
Yellow-red card: Poulsen
Referee: Florian Badstübner (Nürnberg)
Attendance: 16,031 at Volkswagen Arena