Dost scores four as Wolves edge nine-goal thriller

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Leverkusen - Bas Dost scored with the last kick of the game to hand Wolfsburg all three points at Bayer 04 Leverkusen, but that doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story of the Wolves’ astonishing 5-4 victory over die Werkself on Saturday afternoon.

Wolves dominant

Two Dost efforts either side of Naldo’s long-range free-kick gave Dieter Hecking’s side a three-goal lead at the interval, but Heung-Min Son’s quickfire double at the start of the second half gave Leverkusen hope. Dost and Son completed their hat-tricks within three minutes of each other, before Karim Bellarabi struck to sensationally level the scores at 4-4. Emir Spahic was then dismissed for a second yellow card, after which the home side attempted to cling on for a draw, but in nipped Dost to bag his fourth of the match and seal a memorable victory for the Bundesliga’s second-placed side.

Unchanged from their 3-0 victory over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim last time out, the Wolves escaped an early let-off when Diego Benaglio produced a magnificent fingertip save from Karim Bellarabi’s stinging effort. Hecking’s team heeded the early warning, though, and responded in style when the in-form Dost flung himself at Vieirinha’s right-wing cross to plant a header past Bernd Leno to give the visitors a sixth-minute lead.

It was the Dutchman’s fourth goal since the turn of the year, but things got even better for Dost and Co. ten minutes later. There appeared to be little danger when Naldo opted to shoot from a 35-yard free-kick, but Leno failed to keep out the Brazilian’s low drive despite getting a strong fist to the ball. The goal was the 32-year-old’s sixth of the campaign - equalling his highest tally in a single German top-flight season.

Comeback on?


Leverkusen, without the suspended Ömer Toprak and Wendell appeared to fall apart after the second goal as Kevin De Bruyne and former Werkself star Andre Schürrle easily carved open their makeshift defence. The Belgium international skipped past Roberto Hilbert on the left before crossing for Dost, whose cheeky flick with the outside of his right boot gave Hecking’s charges a 3-0 half-time lead they fully deserved.

Roger Schmidt’s side emerged for the second half with renewed vigour, however, and after Benaglio failed to hold onto Bellarabi’s low shot, Son was on hand to poke home Leverkusen’s first of the afternoon twelve minutes into the second half. The South Korean doubled his personal tally five minutes afterwards, prodding past the onrushing Benaglio to make it 3-2, before Dost completed his hat-trick 81 seconds later to restore the Wolves’ two-goal advantage.

Dost wins it


The frenetic pace of the match showed now sign of abating as the second half progressed and Son soon completed his own treble, firing into the net from the edge of the area after the Wolves’ defence had failed to clear a corner. The home faithful, who had seen their team torn apart by the visitors during the first half, were suddenly in full voice and when Bellarabi broke clear to level after 72 minutes, the roof almost came off the jubilant BayArena.

Emir Spahic was dismissed late on for a second bookable offence, but the hosts appeared to have held on for an unlikely point until Dost touched in another predatory finish with the last kick of the game to send the travelling fans into raptures and keep the Wolves within eight points of league leaders FC Bayern München, who demolished Hamburger SV 8-0 on Saturday.

Line-ups and statistics

Matthew Howarth