SV Hemelingen 0-9 VfL Wolfsburg: Simonis wins first competitive match in charge | OneFootball

VfL Wolfsburg visited the Weserstadion in Bremen to face Oberliga side SV Hemelingen in the first round of their DFB-Pokal campaign.

Hemelingen finished at the top of the Bremen division in the 2024/25 Oberliga season, but failed to promote; they went into this match after a 6-0 win against ATSV Sebaldsbrück 1905 in their season opener last week.

Meanwhile, Wolfsburg, who finished twelfth in the Bundesliga in 2024/25, are yet to open their new league season, as it starts next Saturday against 1. FC Heidenheim. They finished 1-0-4 in their preseason matches over the last three weeks, under new coach Paul Simonis, acquired from Eredivisie side Go Ahead Eagles.

Two minutes in, the visitors had a great chance to jump in front, but ended up unsuccessful; Vinicius Souza, on the left side of the Hemelingen penalty area, sent a through ball to the front of the goal where he was hoping to find Dženan Pejčinović; Kerem Sahan did just enough to send the ball away with a sliding tackle, bringing Pejčinović to the ground in the process.

Denis Vavro went down with an injury in the ninth minute, and was replaced by Moritz Jenz, the 26-year-old German centre-back who has been linked to Beşiktaş in recent days. There was some concern just two minutes later, as Maximilian Arnold was slide tackled from behind by Serhat Sido; he clutched his right ankle and took a while to get back up, but managed to walk it off and continue playing.

Jenz would capitalise on the free kick that followed, receiving a ground pass from Wimmer on the right side of the Hemelingen third and smashing the ball into the top-right corner. Arnold would be the one to initially supply Wimmer, with a ground pass to the right side where the Austrian international was placed.

It would not take long for the Niedersachsen side to find a second; just under a minute later, Lovro Majer would win the ball back and set up a streaking Andreas Skov Olsen, who calmly tapped the ball past Marcel Pfaar and into the bottom-left corner.

Wolfsburg won another free kick just outside the box a few minutes later; Arnold drew this one as well, taking another harsh slide tackle and forcing Nico Fuchs to hand a yellow card to Berkay Isik. Arnold decided to take the attempt direct, which was deflected off the wall and away from danger.

Sido left the match nearly twenty minutes in due to an apparent injury, and was replaced by Radin Amadou at the striker position; Amadou would get the first chance of the match for Hemelingen shortly after, darting into the left side of the box while under pressure from Kilian Fischer. Amadou could not lift the attempt off the ground, however, and it was no trouble for Kamil Grabara to glove down with both hands.

Patrick Wimmer almost added a third goal for Wolfsburg at the half-hour mark, but was slightly offside on the through ball from Lovro Majer. As the first half went on, the back line was becoming more comfortable with running into the box; Konstantinos Koulierakis in particular, as the Greek international had two opportunities on the left side of the Hemelingen penalty area in the final minutes.

With just five minutes remaining before halftime, Wimmer would run into the left side of the box before being brought down by Dean Hannawald, drawing a penalty for the visitors; Lovro Majer would step up to take it, sending Marcel Pfaar to the left side of the goal before lifting the ball top-centre. Skov Olsen almost scored his second of the match just minutes after, receiving a ground pass from Pejčinović on the right side of the Hemelingen penalty area, but blasting the attempt well over the bar.

That would be it for the first half, as Wolfsburg went into the break with a 3-0 lead, outshooting Hemelingen 15-2 and 5-1 on target with 74% possession. Wolfsburg had a 93% pass accuracy on 319 passes in the first 45 minutes, compared to 76% on 113 passes for Hemelingen.

Wolfsburg kicked off the second half, and after just 20 seconds, Pejčinović almost made it four; Pfaar charged out of his net, deflecting Pejčinović's lob above the 26-year-old goalkeeper and allowing a corner to the visitors, which was quickly headed away. Florent Berisha followed with a chance of his own for the hosts, another low-to-the-ground attempt that Grabara easily went down to stop.

Majer would connect with Pejčinović for a fourth at the fifty-three minute mark, getting past Yusuf Erten before lobbing the ball into the middle of the box; the 20-year-old German youth international was left completely open and in his debut competitive match, sent a free header bottom-centre. Pejčinović would then assist Mattias Svanberg nine minutes later, connecting on a series of passes before Svanberg sent a right-footed attempt into the right side of the goal - this was just two minutes after the 26-year-old Swedish midfielder entered the match in place of Majer.

Svanberg made it six in the seventy-first minute, deflecting an attempt from the right side of the box off the post and in; Václav Černý followed with another just a minute later, receiving a through ball from Svanberg before lifting the ball above Pfaar and over the line. Pejčinović would add two more within the next ten minutes, completing a hat-trick and making it 9-0 for the visitors.

The last notable chance of the match was on Hemelingen's side; Amadou had a very close chance to score the opener for the hosts in the eighty-third minute, sending the ball past Kamil Grabara but just wide of the left post. The final whistle would go shortly after, with Wolfsburg advancing to the next round of the DFB-Pokal by a final result of nine goals to none.

Wolfsburg will find out their opponent in the next round on Sunday, 31 August. The second round matches will take place on Tuesday, 28 October and Wednesday, 29 October.