Wolfsburg made light work of Karlsruher SC at the Wildparkstadion, winning 5-2 on Saturday evening in a match that opened the Regular Season properly for both sides. Karlsruher started brightly enough, and here's the thing — they took the lead twice before Wolfsburg found their rhythm. By then, the visitors were already setting up shop.
S. Fukuda gave the hosts hope with a seventh-minute opener, but A. Bernhardsson responded almost immediately. M. Wanitzek restored Karlsruher's advantage just two minutes later, and for a while the home side looked capable of pulling off something special. F. Reese pulled Wolfsburg back into the contest before half-time, and Vini Souza put the game to bed early with a forty-fifth-minute strike.
The second half belonged to Wolfsburg from the start. Reese grabbed his second in the ninetieth minute to complete his brace, and H. Wahl added a late consolation of sorts — though it hardly mattered by then. The home side made a flurry of changes around the hour mark, bringing on K. Wiethaup, S. Vaananen and L. Ben Farhat, but the result was already beyond doubt.
The statistics tell a straightforward story. Wolfsburg controlled 58 per cent of possession and created 3.08 expected goals compared to Karlsruher's 1.59. The hosts had 14 shots with only five on target, while Wolfsburg hit the target eleven times from seventeen attempts. Karlsruher threw bodies in the way but couldn't stop the inevitable.
Wolfsburg move up to third place with seven points from three games, while Karlsruher remain eighth with four. The visitors have won two and drawn one — a solid start — whereas the home side's record of one win, one draw and one defeat leaves them with work to do.
