Nothing to show for early lead

Neither Pavel Pardo nor Ricardo Osorio made the trip to Wolfsburg with the rest of their VfB team mates following their late return from international duty with Mexico in Honduras, whilst both Yildiray Bastürk (regenerative training following muscular problem) and Sami Khedira (pulled stomach muscle) were absent through injury. As a result, trainer Armin Veh made three changes to his starting eleven in comparison with the side that started in last week's clash with Bielefeld. Osorio, Pardo and Khedira were replaced by Khalid Boulahrouz, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Jan Simak respectively.
In a somewhat less than capacity filled Volkswagen Arena, the visitors were rewarded for their efforts and took the lead after just 17 minutes. A slightly deflected shot from Mario Gomez, who did extremely well to collect, control and shoot, bounced advantageously for Martin Lanig, who got ahead of his marker and the VfL keeper to force the ball over the line and give VfB what proved to be a half-time lead, despite the best efforts of the home side to level the scores before the break.

Three goals in the final quarter hour

For the second half, VfB brought Arthur Boka to replace Jan Simak and the move seemed to prove effective, until the final fifteen minutes, when the visitors allowed the match to get away from them. Following an unnecessary loss of possession in midfield, VfL broke forward and, despite an initially excellent stop from Jens Lehmann, the ball fell to Grafite, who levelled the scores from close range (51'). VfB had the chance to take the lead again in the 66th minute but Lanig's header frustratingly bounced away off the crossbar. At the other end, Felix Magath's side appeared to have the luck on their side and were soon in front as Grafite was again perfectly placed to pounce on a loose ball and make it

2-1 (76'). Three minutes later Edin Dzeko made it 3-1 to put the game well and truly beyond VfB. Armin Veh's men's will was now broken and the rest was a simple case of running down the clock for the hosts. To rub salt into gapping Stuttgart wounds, Dzeko snuck in to head home a Christian Gentner cross and make the final score 4-1. VfB could certainly point to defensive lapses as the reason behind what became a heft defeat in Lower Saxony.

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