Werkself strike late again in 4-3 win over Wolfsburg

Head coach Xabi Alonso made five changes following Thursday's 4-0 victory at Feyenoord. In defence, Jeanuel Belocian made his first Bundesliga start in place of Piero Hincapie, while summer signing Nordi Mukiele also came in for Jeremie Frimpong. Elsewhere, Aleix Garcia​, mine Adli and Patrik Schick were preferred to Robert Andrich, Martin Terrier and Victor Boniface, who took their places on the bench.

VfL score three

Bayer 04 made an unfortunate start against Wolfsburg, with Mohammed-Elamine Amoura's right-wing cross bouncing into the net off the chest of Mukiele as he attempted to clear in the fifth minute. Undeterred, the Werkself dominated proceedings after that and soon got their reward. The Wolfsburg defence failed to properly clear a corner from Alejandro Grimaldo, and the ball came back to Granit Xhaka, who teed up Florian Wirtz for a first-time finish from the edge of the box (15'). The hosts continued to enjoy most of the play, with Schick in particular presented with a number of good chances. However, the imposing striker twice slipped past the ball (20', 26').

Four minutes later, Schick was unable to hit the target again from Grimaldo's cut-back after a well-played counter. Tah did better with another Grimaldo corner just moments later, rising at the far post to head Leverkusen in front (32'). The lead did not last long, though. The Black-and-Reds were again exposed at the back, allowing Sebastiaan Bornauw with a header (37') and Mattias Svanberg with a long-range strike (45'+1) to put the ball past Lukas Hradecky in goal, meaning Bayer 04 went into the dressing room 3-2 down.

Werkself dominant, boniface the hero

Alonso brought on Frimpong and Hincapie at the start of the second half and the latter had an immediate impact, nodding in Garcia's corner to level the score at 3-3 (49'). Wirtz and Co remained the dominant team with over 70 percent possession overall as they looked to pick apart the Wolves' defence, while the visitors were happy to sit back and defend. In another fine attacking combination, Wirtz set up Schick with a through ball but the Czech fired wide (65'). He was then replaced by Boniface, who tested VfL goalkeeper Kamil Grabara with an effort on the turn (77').

The Werkself increased the pressure even more in the closing stages, Xhaka striking the post in the 90th minute, but their efforts were eventually rewarded when Boniface asserted himself through a scramble in the penalty area and drilled the ball home to make it 4-3 (90'+3).

looking ahead: trip to munich then ucl home game

Alonso and his team now have a full week of training before the away match at FC Bayern Munich on Saturday 28 September (kick-off 18:30 CEST). Four days later, the Werkself have their first home match in the UEFA Champions League, when they welcome AC Milan to the BayArena on Tuesday 1 October (21:00 CEST).

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Hradecky - Tapsoba, Tah, Belocian (Hincapie 46') - Mukiele (Frimpong 46'), Xhaka, Garcia (Palacios 79'), Grimaldo - Adli (Terrier 56'), Wirtz - Schick (Boniface 68')

VfL Wolfsburg: Grabara - Fischer, Bornauw, Zesiger, Kaminski - Arnold, Baku (Koulierakis 42'), Wimmer (Vranckx 78'), Svanberg (Özcan 78'), Tomas (Gerhardt 78') - Amoura (Vavro 90'+1)

Goals: 0-1 Mukiele (5' o.g.), 1-1 Wirtz (15'), 2-1 Tah (32'), 2-2 Bornauw (37'), 2-3 Svanberg (45'+1), 3-3 Hincapie (49'), 4-3 Boniface (90'+3)

Yellow cards: Belocian, Grimaldo, Adli, Frimpong / Patrick Hasenhüttl (Wolfsburg assistant coach), Tomas, Zesiger

Red cards: Gerhardt

Referee: Sascha Stegemann (Niederkassel)

Attendance: 29,250 (home sellout) at the BayArena