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Wolfsburg back to winning ways on late Pejčinović header
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- Wolfsburg back to winning ways on late Pejčinović header
Wolfsburg back to winning ways on late Pejčinović header
VfL Wolfsburg played host to FC St. Pauli in the seventeenth matchweek of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season - the first time that a league match was played at the Volkswagen Arena in the 2026 calendar year.
Daniel Bauer's Wölfe went into this match fourteenth in the Bundesliga table with a 4-3-9 record and a -12 goal differential (24-36), while Alexander Blessin's Freibeuter were seventeenth with a 3-3-9 record and a -13 goal differential (13-26). It should be mentioned, however, that St. Pauli went into this match with two matches in hand over 1. FSV Mainz 05, who played seventeen as opposed to St. Pauli's fifteen.
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Mathias Pereira Lage kicked off this match, as St. Pauli would attack from left to right in the first half, and Wolfsburg would go in the opposite direction whenever they would have their scoring chances.
Just one minute in, Maximilian Arnold delivered a cross into the centre of the box, aiming to find Patrick Wimmer; however, Karol Mets met it first and his header allowed the ball to land in front of Nikola Vasilj, who gloved down the attempt.
Wolfsburg would follow with another chance in the fourth minute, as a Christian Eriksen flick pass in the midfield found Dženan Pejčinović in the centre of the St. Pauli half; with only Hauke Wahl in front of him, and so much space, Pejčinović decided to launch a right-footed attempt towards the bottom-left corner from just outside the St. Pauli penalty area, but Vasilj went down and stopped it with both hands.
Aaron Zehnter would run into the left side of the box and create a similar chance to the prior Arnold opportunity; his cross into the centre of the box reached Wimmer successfully, but the header from the Austrian international was timed slightly late, and went well to the right of Vasilj for a goal kick to the visitors.
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The visitors had their first dangerous chance of the evening on a corner in the seventeenth minute, whipped in by Eric Smith but cleared by Moritz Jenz to the right of Kamil Grabara and out. The following corner was desperately hoofed away by a lunging Konstantinos Koulierakis, but landed to the edge of the box - where Mathias Pereira Lage would launch a right-footed attempt above a leaping Grabara but just over the bar.
In the twenty-second minute, Lovro Majer entered the left side of the St. Pauli penalty area and passed short to Yannick Gerhardt, whose attempt was blocked by a leaping Hauke Wahl. The rebound sprung back to Gerhardt, who broke free of James Sands, and launched the following opportunity just wide of the right post. After going to a VAR review, it was determined that the ball went off the hand of Wahl - and head official Frank Willenborg had no other option but to award a penalty.
Christian Eriksen stepped up to take it in the twenty-fifth minute, seeking his first goal in a Wolfsburg uniform and his first in the German top-flight in his professional career. The record Danish international goalscorer allowed Nikola Vasilj to move to the right side of the goal before sending the ball down the middle to put Daniel Bauer's side into an early 1-0 lead.
St. Pauli nearly equalised in the thirty-fifth minute. Joel Chima Fujita weaved his way around Aaron Zehnter and Moritz Jenz, before sending a pass to the goalmouth to Ricky-Jade Jones. Jones' initial attempt was denied by the right leg of Kamil Grabara; with Yannick Gerhardt beside him but unable to do much, Jones picked up the rebound and sent it just wide of the right post.
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Jones went down, surprised that he missed a golden opportunity to draw the scores level and register just his second goal of the season; Grabara went down, too, with some problems on that same leg, but managed to get up a minute later and continued playing.
Eric Smith would make up for Jones' mistake just a few minutes later, however. Mathias Pereira Lage, on the right side of the Wolfsburg third, sent a ground pass to Adam Dźwigała - and Dźwigała, from the edge of the box, sent a low pass to Smith, just inside the penalty area. Smith quickly sent a shot through the legs of Maximilian Arnold, past a diving Grabara - who presumably did not see the ball until after it went past Arnold - and into the bottom-left corner. Just like that, St. Pauli were back level just before halftime, with both sides having managed to score on their second shot on target.
The halftime whistle would go soon after, as VfL Wolfsburg and FC St. Pauli headed into the break with the scores at a goal apiece. Wolfsburg held 61% possession, with shots also in their favour, 8-5; however, the shots on target were level at 2-2. Wolfsburg had an 87% pass accuracy on 322 passes, while St. Pauli managed 201 passes with a 78% pass accuracy.
Eric Smith was the highest-rated player for FC St. Pauli and on either side in the first half, with a 7.7 rating at the break. Not only did he score the equaliser, but he managed a 21/27 pass accuracy, equivalent to 78%. Fifteen of those passes were in the Wolfsburg half, with eleven of them successfully completed. Lovro Majer was the highest-rated Wolfsburg player at 7.2, primarily attacking from the left side; he went 15/17 in terms of passes, with a 13/15 success rate on passes in the St. Pauli half. Majer also finished 2/2 on crosses, 1/1 on tackles, 3/3 on ground duels, and 1/1 on aerial duels.
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Wolfsburg kicked off the second half, but would not generate a decent chance in the first five minutes; the first opportunity of the second 45 would go to St. Pauli and Joel Chima Fujita in particular, who powered a right-footed attempt off the gloves of Kamil Grabara after receiving a through ball from Ricky Jade-Jones. Grabara would make the stop, but could not hold onto it, as the ball rolled out of play on the left side for a throw to the visitors.
St. Pauli would also pick up the first yellow card of the match in the fifty-second minute, as Lars Ritzka stepped on the right boot of Yannick Gerhardt after the Wolfsburg defensive midfielder cleared the ball away from his own half. Moritz Jenz also went into the book just two minutes later, catching Mathias Pereira Lage and sending the Portuguese forward to the ground; this is the fourth yellow card of the competition for Jenz, meaning that another yellow card in the remainder of the competition will lead to a one-match suspension.
Fujita would get another chance in the fifty-sixth minute, running from the left side of the Wolfsburg third to the central areas before sending a low shot just to the left of Grabara and out for a goal kick. Despite holding 55% possession in the second half, St. Pauli landed three shots in the first fifteen minutes of the second half, compared to one from Wolfsburg; Daniel Bauer looked to change those fortunes by bringing in Mohamed Amoura for Lovro Majer.
Amoura, who returned to Germany following Algeria's 2025 Africa Cup of Nations tournament, stayed at LAM to create a balanced formation, instead of moving up to LW and leaving Christian Eriksen at RAM; Pejčinović remained as the lone striker as a result. Amoura almost made an immediate impact in the sixty-second minute, darting into the left side of the St. Pauli half before delivering a cross into the right side of the St. Pauli penalty area, cleared by a towering Mets header.
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In the seventy-third minute, Adam Daghim entered for Patrick Wimmer, in a double change that also saw Kilian Fischer replace Saël Kumbedi - and he nearly put Wolfsburg in the lead himself. Yannick Gerhardt set him up with a slicing pass to the right side of the St. Pauli penalty area, before the 20-year-old Danish youth international would send a right-footed attempt just below the lifted right boot of a jumping Louis Oppie and off the glove of a diving Vasilj.
St. Pauli generated a chance of their own within the next two minutes. Pereira Lage would win a tussle with Fischer before running into the left side of the box and aiming towards the bottom-right corner with a right-footed attempt. Grabara would punch it away for a corner to the visitors, which was then quickly cleared by Koulierakis.
In the eighty-eighth minute, Daghim would send a short cross from the right side of the box and into the middle of the St. Pauli penalty area. Pejčinović would get just enough of a header to put iit past Vasilj and put Wolfsburg back in front; it was the fourth goal in the last three matches for the 20-year-old German youth international, coming at a time when the club really needed it to rescue them from the relegation zone and put them closer to the middle of the Bundesliga table.
St. Pauli almost followed with an equaliser, as a free kick late from Smith was headed by Wahl and denied by Grabara - Wahl was offside regardless, so nothing would have come of it if the attempt went past the Polish goalkeeper.
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The final whistle went to resounding cheers just moments later, as VfL Wolfsburg emerged 2-1 victors and move up to twelfth in the Bundesliga table, with the two teams below them, SV Werder Bremen and Hamburger SV, still holding a match in hand.
Die Wölfe improve to 5-3-9 in the season, 4-2-3 in the Daniel Bauer era and their first win with him as the full-time coach. As for FC St. Pauli, who start the 2026 calendar year with a defeat, they fall to 3-3-10 and seventeenth in the table, only ahead of 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 in terms of goal differential, with -14 compared to -22 for Frank Schmidt's side.
Speaking of Heidenheim, they are the next team going to Wolfsburg this weekend, with kickoff at the Volkswagen Arena set for 15:30 (CET) on Saturday. Wolfsburg visited Heidenheim in the opening match of the 2025/26 season under Paul Simonis, and emerged 3-1 victors. This will be followed by yet another bottom-half battle against 1. FSV Mainz 05 next Saturday at 15:30 (CET).
As for St. Pauli, they will face Borussia Dortmund at Millerntor-Stadion in Hamburg at the same time, 15:30 (CET) on Saturday; the two sides played to a thrilling 3-3 draw on the opening day of the season, with three second-half goals from Andréas Hountondji, Daniel Sinani, and Smith. They will then visit local rivals Hamburger SV in the Hamburger Stadtderby on Friday, 23 January, with kickoff set for 20:30 (CET).
