A performance that was encouraging, at least offensively: VfL Wolfsburg won their only test match before the start of the second leg against SC Paderborn with 5:4. Wout Weghorst shone as a three-goal scorer.
Florian Kohfeldt had already made it clear before the game that the clash with SC Paderborn was “more than a friendly” for him. The coach has only little time to get his team in shape for the second half of the season – the intensive working days of the past week should already be visible against the second-division team. That worked, although it must be remembered that the SCP have only been in training since Monday.
Never the less: Offensively, VfL presented themselves from the start as gripping in attack and creative in creating their goal-scoring chances, which were used ice-coldly. Wout Weghorst in particular was hungry for goals, scoring three times in the first half. The second goal was particularly impressive when the VfL combined in one-touch style through the Paderborn defence and the Dutchman finished.
Also nice to see were the long-range goals by Maximilian Philipp and Renato Steffen, which give hope that the VfL, so harmless in the Hinserie (17 goals), will become more dangerous.
Paderborn goals after VfL slip-ups
29 goals conceded by Kohfeldt’s side in the first half of the season, Tuesday’s test again gave little encouragement that things are already looking much better defensively. The Paderborn goals all came after serious defensive blunders by the Wolves.
First Maxence Lacroix lost the ball, then a co-production of mistakes by John Anthony Brooks and Sebastiaan Bornauw led to a 2:4 penalty kick, before the 3:5 Luca Waldschmidt lost the ball, and at the 4:5 the ball rang after a Paderborn throw-in.
With a view to the start of the second leg on Sunday in Bochum, the substitution of defender Lacroix is also a cause for concern. The Frenchman left the field for Micky van de Ven after just under an hour, grabbing the back of his left thigh.
