Wout Weghorst grabbed a brace and US international John Brooks scored at both ends as Wolfsburg extended their unbeaten start to the season to nine matches in an eight-goal thriller against Werder Bremen at the Volkswagen Arena.

Wolfsburg 5-3 Werder Bremen
Goals: 0-1 Bittencourt (13'), 1-1 Baku (22'), 2-1 Brooks (25'), 2-2 Möhwald (36'), 3-2 Weghorst (37'), 3-3 Brooks (o.g. 47'), 4-3 Weghorst (76'), 5-3 Bialek (90'+4)
Red card: Möhwald (80')

Leonardo Bittencourt turned in Yuya Osako's dangerous cross from close range to open the first-half floodgates in the 13th minute. Unlucky for some but not Wolfsburg - Oliver Glasner's ever-resilient ensemble leveled through Ridle Baku's 18-yard drive before Brooks climbed above his marker to power home Josip Brekalo's cross to turn the game around within three first-half minutes. Kevin Möhwald had only been on the pitch for four minutes when he met Ludwig Augustinsson's near-post corner with an even more impressive header that flew over Koen Casteels and into the opposite corner of the Wolfsburg goal. The Wolves bit back before the half was out, though, with Brekalo involved once again. The Croatia international found Admir Mehmedi, who touched the ball into the path of Weghorst to sweep a first-time finish through the legs of Theo Gebre Selassie and past Jiri Pavlenka.

Following a first period that yielded five goals from as many shots on target, it was no real surprise to see the first effort after the restart tickle the back of the net. The goal stood following a lengthy VAR review for a possible offside against Milot Rashica, who was level as he collected a pass from Osako and whipped over an inviting ball, which a back-tracking Brooks inadvertently side-footed off the post and into his own net. Bittencourt drew a rare save from Casteels, but the next attempt did find its mark, albeit at the other end. Xaver Schlager played in Jerome Roussillon, whose inch-perfect was headed home by Weghorst, via the underside of the crossbar. Bremen had Möhwald sent off for two yellow cards with 10 minutes to go, leaving Wolfsburg substitute Bartosz Bialek - having already had a goal ruled out for offside - to put the seal on the hosts' third straight win, ending Werder's seven-game unbeaten run in the process.

Match stats

• Five first-half goals is a league-high for the current campaign. The Wolves have scored 11 of their 12 league goals before half-time.
• Weghorst has scored six in his last six Bundesliga games.
• Baku is on two goals for the season. Previously, he'd never scored more than once in a single season.
• Möhwald ended a goal drought dating back to May 2019. Three of his four Bundesliga goals have come as a substitute.
• As well as scoring his first goal in 33 Bundesliga matches, Brooks also put through his own net for the third time. Of all active Bundesliga players, only Niklas Stark (four), Niklas Süle (four) and Martin Hinteregger (five) have scored more own goals.
• Bialek scored his first Bundesliga goal.

Watch: Weghorst: "I had a feeling I would score two today"

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Line-ups

Wolfsburg: Casteels (c) - Baku, Lacroix, Brooks, Roussillon (Otavio 81') - Schlager, Arnold - Steffen (Philipp 65'), Mehmedi (Bialek 81'), Brekalo (Victor 90') - Weghorst
Unused subs: Pervan, Mbabu, Siersleben, Klaus, Gerhardt
Out: Ginczek (back), Guilavogui (thigh), Pongracic (not included)
Coach: Oliver Glasner 

Bremen: Pavlenka - Groß (Woltemade 84'), Toprak, Friedl - Gebre Selassie (c), Eggestein, Mbom (Möhwald 32'), Augustinsson - Bittencourt (Agu 71'), Rashica (Chong 72') - Osako (Selke 84')
Unused subs: Kapino, Moisander, Schmid, Erras
Out: Füllkrug (calf), Sargent (ankle), Veljkovic (groin)
Coach: Florian Kohfeldt

About the clubs

VfL Wolfsburg

Volkswagen Arena

SV Werder Bremen

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