Bas Dost carried on his terrific form on Thursday evening to help VfL Wolfsburg take a big step towards the last 16 of the Europa League. Five days after his four-goal haul against Bayer Leverkusen, the Dutchman continued his goalscoring exploits, finding the net twice in the Wolves’ 2-0 first-leg home win over Sporting Lisbon.
Dost now has nine competitive goals to his name in the second half of the season. Wolfsburg were fortunate that Israeli referee Alon Yefet didn’t award a penalty for handball by Portuguese Vieirinha in shortly before half time though, with the score at 0-0. “We got lucky,” said VfL sporting director Klaus Allofs, “because you never know what call will be made in those situations.”
Defeat by a one-goal margin against the 18-time Portuguese champions in next week’s second leg would still be enough to see the Wolves progress to the last 16 of a European Cup competition for the first time in five years.
Wolfsburg slow out of the blocks
VfL struggled early on against the Portuguese outfit, who came close to beating Schalke to a place in the last 16 of the Champions League earlier this season. The absence of the Luiz Gustavo and Josuha Guilavogui pivot, both of whom were suspended, was very apparent.
It took until the 16th minute before Wolfsburg created a chance of note. A sensational pass from midfield maestro Kevin De Bruyne put André Schürrle through, but the World Champion was kept at bay by the visiting keeper. Sporting defender Paulo Oliveira then almost scored an own goal following a Wolfsburg cross just three minutes later.
The third-placed side in Portugal provided some dangerous moments for the Wolves though. Led by Manchester United loanee Nani, the away side tried to play their way through the hosts’ defence and a shot from André Carrillo almost broke the deadlock, but instead went inches wide of the post.
Dost at the double
Aaron Hunt had to be withdrawn shortly before half time due to a knee problem and Maximilian Arnold took his place in the centre of the park. The second half couldn’t have started better for Wolfsburg. Just 48 seconds after the restart, centre back Naldo drove forward and played in Dost, who coolly slotted the ball into the back of the net to open the scoring.
The home side pushed for a second, which came shortly after the hour mark. De Bruyne was the provider, delivering a teasing ball across the face of goal that Dost was able to poke home.