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VfL Wolfsburg’s U17s picked up a point in their first home game of the new season. The Young Wolves drew 1-1 (0-1) with FC St. Pauli on Sunday. After Noah Ben Trabert put the visitors ahead in the 36th minute, Yvan Simo Kom equalised in the second half with a deflected free-kick (72’). The Green-and-Whites withstood the visitors’ pressure in the closing stages to secure a draw. Trabert punishes lapse The Young Wolves struggled to get into the game in the first half. St. Pauli caused VfL problems in particular with long balls in behind the defence. As a result, Christian Stegmaier’s side rarely managed to establish the control they were looking for. In the 36th minute, the visitors capitalised on a lapse in the Wolfsburg defence to take the lead: a ball across goal found its way through to the far post, where St. Pauli’s Trabert slotted past Paul Gruner from close range to make it 1-0. VfL went into the half-time break trailing by that scoreline after 45 minutes. Equaliser after the break VfL coach Stegmaier responded with a double substitution at the start of the second half: Nikola Isailovic replaced Younes Mhana in the 46th minute, while Pepe Ullrich came on for Lenn Grupe. Nevertheless, the visitors were the better side after the restart and created more chances. The Young Wolves still managed to hit back in the 72nd minute, though, as Simo Kom’s deflected free-kick found the net to make it 1-1. The game became more stretched in the closing stages, but the Green-and-Whites were unable to pick out a team-mate with enough precision from their crosses. At the other end, Gruner kept the Wolves from falling behind again in stoppage time with a superb one-on-one save. The final whistle therefore confirmed what was, overall, a fair draw. “Embrace the battle more consistently” Christian Stegmaier: We had problems in particular with the long balls in behind our defence and need to improve our cover in behind and our organisation. In possession, we were too slow and inaccurate, and we didn’t defend consistently enough for their goal. Even so, we didn’t give up and managed to equalise. The game became more stretched in the closing stages, but our crosses weren’t precise enough. At the other end, Paul Krune preserved the point for us with a superb one-on-one save. We need to embrace the battle more consistently and be braver, cleaner and quicker on the ball. Nevertheless, we’ll take the point: dust ourselves down and move on. VfL Wolfsburg U17: Gruner – Jewtschuk, Schönhoff, Filbry, Sauermann – Padure, Garcia Noto – Mhana (46. Isailovic), Grupe (46. Ullrich), Zimmermann – Simo Kom Goals: 0-1 Trabert (36’), 1-1 Simo Kom (72’)