VfL Wolfsburg kicked off their UEFA Cup group stage campaign with an impressive 5-1 (2-1) home victory over SC Heerenveen.
With tough games still to come against Sporting Braga (November 27th), Portsmouth (December 4th) and AC Milan (December 17th) this was the ideal start for the “Wolves”, while Heerenveen are very much up against it now with no points from two games.
Goals galore
Mika Väyrynen put the visitors in front in the 31st minute, with Edin Dzeko levelling three minutes later.
The ever-reliable Grafite (39.) took Wolfsburg into the break on top and the hosts bagged three without reply in the second half courtesy of Zvjezdan Misimovic (53.), Dzeko again (60.) and Jacek Krzynowek (71.).
Slow start by “Wolves”
Although it would end up being Wolfsburg's biggest win in Europe, it was Heerenveen who started the brighter of the two sides, Danijel Panjic hitting the post in the ninth minute.
A minute later, Dzeko had an effort blocked at the other end and as VfL got into their stride Krzynowek hit the bar from distance (23.).
Shock opener
Väyrynen gave them pause for thought on the half-hour mark however, exploiting a lapse in concentration in the Wolfsburg defence and firing an unstoppable shot past home keeper Diego Benaglio.
That served as a wake-up call to the “Wolves” who were level within three minutes, Dzeko heading home from a corner. Five minutes later, Grafite finished off a fine move down the right to put the home side in front.
Gala performance
Wolfsburg came out firing on all cylinders after the interval. Misimovic nabbed his first UEFA Cup goal to put them 3-1 up before Dzeko combined nicely with strike partner Grafite as a prelude to scoring his own second and his team's fourth.
The fifth from Krzynowek, on from the start for the first time in weeks, was merely the icing on the cake.
Match statistics:
Wolfsburg: Benaglio - Riether, Madlung, Barzagli, Schäfer - Josue (73. Costa) - Dejagah, Krzynowek - Misimovic (62. Gentner) - Grafite (70. Saglik), Dzeko
Heerenveen: Steppe - Breuer, Dingsdag, Kopic (65. Smarason), Popov (61. Jong-A-Pin) - Väyrynen - Svec, Grindheim - Pranjic - Sibon, Paulo Henrique (76. Deekman)
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)
Goals: 0-1 Väyrynen (31.), 1-1 Dzeko (34.), 2-1 Grafite (39.), 3-1 Misimovic (53.), 4-1 Dzeko (60.), 5-1 Krzynowek (72.)
Attendance: 15,615
Booking: Väyrynen
Grafite hat-trick for Wolves
Wolves through to the knockout stages
Easy win for “Wolves”