Bayer Leverkusen 4 - 5 Wolfsburg - Wolves edge nine-goal thriller

Posted Sunday, February 15, 2015 by PA

Bas Dost was Wolfsburg's hero as he netted four in a remarkable 5-4 win at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday to keep Dieter Hecking's men within eight points of Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.

It was three and easy for Wolfsburg at the interval with Dost netting two and Naldo also on target.

However, a second-half hat-trick from Son Heung-min, after Dost had completed his hat-trick, and a Karim Bellarabi strike saw Leverkusen get back on terms.

They lost Emir Spahic to a late red card and Dost had the final say with his fourth deep in stoppage time snatching all three points for the visitors.

The first threat came to Diego Benaglio's goal, but once he tipped Bellarabi's effort wide, the action moved to the other end of the field for the remainder of the first half.

Dost gave Wolfsburg the lead in the sixth minute with a header from Vieirinha's cross, and it gave an already buoyant Wolfsburg a further lift.

Leverkusen, whose own strength is when on the attack, were forced to defend inside their own stadium, and it soon became clear that is their weak link.

Andre Schurrle had a goal disallowed before the Wolves earned a free-kick 35 yards from goal - Naldo territory.

The Brazilian defender did not hit one of his best free-kicks, but Bernd Leno made a hash of his attempt to keep it out and, after 17 minutes, Leverkusen were already two behind.

Just over 10 minutes later and it became three with Dost on target again, sticking his foot out to turn Kevin De Bruyne's cross into the far post from six yards.

Minutes later, Schurrle hit the outside of the post with a lob past Leno with Wolfsburg hammering home their superiority.

Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt rung the changes at half-time, bringing Simon Rolfes, Julian Brandt and Josip Drmic on for Hakan Calhanoglu, Kiessling and Lars Bender, and the story changed.

Son pulled a goal back when Benaglio fumbled a Bellarabi shot out to him and the South Korean struck again five minutes later to bring Leverkusen to within a goal.

Wolfsburg hit back immediately with Dost completing his hat-trick from Ricardo Rodriguez's cross, but Leverkusen refused to lie down.

Son also completed his hat-trick midway through the second half, picking up a pass from Gonzalo Castro before picking his spot inside the near post.

The comeback was complete five minutes later when Bellarabi sent his shot through the legs of Benaglio, netting the fifth goal in the space of just 15 minutes.

Leverkusen now sensed the chance of winning a game which seemed lost at half-time, but a second yellow card and consequent dismissal for Spahic meant their priority over the last five minutes was to defend what they had.

They almost managed it, but Dost ended an extraordinary game with his fourth and Wolfsburg's fifth, turning in Vieirinha's cross at the near post just before the referee blew the final whistle.