Bayer Leverkusen missed a chance to reclaim the lead in Germany yesterday, suffering a 4-1 loss at VfL Wolfsburg, meaning promoted Paderborn’s magical weekend continued by staying top.
Ricardo Rodriguez scored two goals and set up another as Wolfsburg handed Leverkusen their first defeat of the season and picked up their first victory.
It was an uphill struggle for Leverkusen from the moment Giulio Donati clipped the heel of Junior Malanda inside the area and earned his marching orders.
Rodriguez made no mistake from the spot, but the Wolves made the mistake of thinking the win was already theirs.
After Kevin De Bruyne hit the post, Leverkusen broke with a long punt forward from Bernd Leno being knocked down by Karim Bellarabi for Josip Drmic, who showed good strength to hold off his marker before beating Diego Benaglio.
Wolfsburg struggled to make their extra man count until, on the stroke of half-time, Vieirinha found himself unmarked beyond the far post to head Rodriguez’s deep cross inside Leno’s post.
Rodriguez then added to his earlier penalty with a goal from open play, a fine volley from De Bruyne’s corner which flashed past Leno, unsighted by a pack of players in front of him. The hosts were home and dry, but there was still time for substitute Aaron Hunt to open his account for the club.
Luiz Gustavo powered his way in from the left and his cross was turned towards goal by Hunt. His first effort was blocked by Malanda but the rebound fell straight back to Hunt to sweep in with his left foot, sealing Wolfsburg’s first win of the season.
“The whole thing was too much for us,” said Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt. “They are a strong opponent, there was an early red card and goal. And then the goal right before the half-time. It was just too much for my young team.”
The other match yesterday saw Koln hold Borussia Monchengladbach to a scoreless draw at home.
The hosts had the best chance of the game in the first half, but it was wasted by Pawel Olkowski.
The biggest winner of the weekend was promoted Paderborn, who beat Hanover 96 2-0 on Saturday to take first place with eight points.
Elias Kachunga scored in the 71st minute and Moritz Stoppelkamp added another after 93 minutes from a Bundesliga-record 83 metres out. “I didn’t know that I could even shoot that far,” he said.
