The first half began with little true momentum from either side and only very few scenes in either penalty area. In the 34th minute, Sven Ulreich had to react quickly to make a save from a powerful shot by Diego. Five minutes later though, the VfB keepercould do nothing to prevent his side from falling behind. In an attempt to clear, Stefano Celozzi drove the ball against Cicero and the ball landed at the feet of Grafite. The Brazilian held off his marker before slamming the ball into the top of the net to make it 1-0 to the visitors. Shortly before VfL went in front, Bruno Labbadia was forced to make a change to his side as Kuzmanovic injured his knee in an attempt to block a shot from Diego. Elson came in to replace the Serb, swapping positions with Christian Gentner. Coach Felix Magath’s side took their lead into the break.
 

Luck and Ulreich rescue a point
 
For the second half, Boularouz was introduced in place of Serdar Tasci (adductor problem) at the centre of the VfB defence. So far as the game was concerned though, there was little sign of much change. Wolfsburg looked to play out their lead whilst VfB had problems creating any sort of opening in front of goal. In the 65th minute, a combination of luck and Ulreich prevented VfB from falling further behind. From a Diego free-kick, the ball fell to substitute Jan Polak, who shot from close range but somehow Ulreich managed to turn the ball against the post before grasping it at the second attempt. Minutes later, Shinji Okazaki broke free but was denied a chance to level the scores by the off-side flag – a tight, and possibly incorrect decision. In the 78th minute, Pavel Pogrebnyak headed headed what had been VfB’s best chance of the second period over the bar.