Wolfsburg rout Bremen 5-3
BERLIN: VfL Wolfsburg cemented second place in the Bundesliga on Sunday with a 5-3 thumping of Werder Bremen with Bas Dost taking his tally to 11 goals in six games.
Wolves’ Dutch striker Dost is on an incredible scoring run with nine goals in his last four league games and two in as many Europa League games.
Bremen suffered their first defeat of 2015 after a fairytale run of five previous wins and a draw has taken them from last to ninth in Germany’s top flight.
“We always belived in the win. We have repeatedly proven we can always come back quickly,” said Dost, who scored four goals in Wolves’ 5-4 win at Bayer Leverkusen a fortnight ago.
The game at Werder’s Weserstadion began at a frantic pace as the scores stood at 2-2 with 18 minutes gone.
Bremen took a half-time lead after an own-goal from Wolves’ Portugal midfielder Vieirinha from a shot by Werder’s Felix Kroos, brother of Germany star Toni.
Dost then played a part in Wolves’ three second-half goals, netting in the 47th and 50th minutes before giving Daniel Caligiuri a simple tap-in.
The weekend’s results mean the league’s top three have a settled look about them with three months left of the season.
Leaders Bayern remain eight points clear, while Wolfsburg appear just as unlikely to be caught with a 10-point lead over Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Gladbach cemented third with a 2-0 win at home to relegation-threatened Paderborn with goals either side of half-time by Fabian Johnson and Patrick Herrmann.
Meanwhile, holders Bayern Munich welcome second-division Eintracht Braunschweig tomorrow in their bid to reach the German Cup quarter-finals, while the authorities brace themselves for Borussia Dortmund’s trip to Dresden today.
Third-division Dynamo Dresden host Juergen Klopp’s Dortmund in the third round against the backdrop of the riots which blighted their 2011 secondround clash.
Borussia beat Dynamo 2-0 on Oct 25, 2011 amidst ugly scenes as Dresden fans rioted and clashed violently with Dortmund police. Both groups of supporters have a notorious reputation in Germany.
The DFB initially threw Dresden out of the competition for a year for the violence in Dortmund, then reduced the punishment to a €100,000 fine and a game behind closed doors on appeal.