Despite a particularly ineffective season debut from VfL Wolfsburg star Kevin De Bruyne, the home club managed to eke out three points against Eintracht Frankfurt with early goals by Ivan Perišic and Bas Dost.
Stefan Reinartz made an effort to lessen the deficit for Eintracht, but his 18th-minute goal was not enough to save a point for the Eagles. The three combined goals scored in this match all occurred between the 10th and 20th minutes.
Early goals spurt is enough for mediocre Wolfsburg
Perišic brought Wolfsburg an early 1-0 lead with his headed strike across goal. Newly-transferred attacker Max Kruse picked up the assist for the goal in the 12th minute, and he looked very content fitting in manager Dieter Hecking's on-pitch plans.
The lead-doubling goal by Dost was an opportunistic strike from point-blank range after multiple attempts from his teammates were turned away but not cleared with authority. It was a great way to start the 2015-16 Bundesliga season for the Dutch 26 year-old.
Wolfsburg played their best football in those opening stages of the match, performing disappointingly in the second half and possibly deserving only a draw. They have now gone undefeated in 23 straight home Bundesliga league matches.
Eintracht had numerous opportunities on goal throughout the match, exploiting simple holes in the Wolfsburg defence but failing to even up the match and put a second into the back of the net.
Chemistry-wise, Wolfsburg looked on the right track, holding 62 percent possession and an 85% passing accuracy rating. For a patched-up side in their season debut, it wasn't too bad a performance as a team.
De Bruyne's woeful performance
Both Ivan Perišić and Kevin De Bruyne of Wolfsburg are rumored to be drawing great interest on the transfer market, and each handled the pressure of that differently.
Perišic played a very sound and well-rounded match, making the right passes and finishing off the initial goal with an excellent shot across the goal. If he does not make the reported move to Inter of Italy's Serie A, he will once again be a treasured winger for manager Hecking and Wolfsburg.
De Bruyne, meanwhile, made multiple sloppy passes and moves, while his only shot on target could have come closer to goal and failed to pick up air and the chance to beat Frankfurt 'keeper Lukas Hradecky.
He got into an altercation with defender Carlos Zambrano during the first stoppage time. Zambrano made a dangerous and unnecessary sliding tackle attempt on a sprinting De Bruyne, and in response, the Belgian leaped up and confronted the Peruvian with a slight shove. Both players were handed yellow cards.
It was reported that De Bruyne was not playing at full fitness. Even so, he could have impressed much more in his 2015-16 league debut. In terms of transfer rumors, no formal bid has been posed to Wolfsburg for their 24 year-old Belgian skiller, but a rumored fee of £50 million has been asked of Manchester City, per multiple sources.
All-too familiar opponents
This matchup was a replay of each team's opening match from the 2014-15 Bundesliga year, as the contest once again took place on the second day of matches and also at the Volkswagen Arena.
Wolfsburg were indeed able to earn the full three points this time around, despite a commendable 13-shot output from Frankfurt. The winning side mounted just five strikes, three on target.
These two managers are also the most experienced in Bundesliga play, so Hecking and Armin Veh are very familiar foes. They drew twice over the course of the 2014-15 season.
Standings following opening result
De Bruyne and the Wolves are lucky to pick up what could be a crucial three points when competing down the line with FC Bayern Munich. However, playing like they did Sunday, there is no way Wolfsburg's football can outperform a well-oiled Bayern squad or any other top Bundesliga team, especially yellow-hot Borussia Dortmund.
VfL Wolfsburg will play their next match at 1. FC Köln on Saturday at RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne. Eintracht Frankfurt face off with FC Augsburg at home Saturday as well.