Wolfsburg 5-1 Krasnodar

The German and Nicklas Bendtner scored two apiece for the Bundesliga side while Joshua Guilavogui added to an easy evening for them



Wolfsburg kept their qualification hopes in good stead with a 5-1 win over Krasnodar at the Volkswagen Arena on Thursday, which leaves them four points clear in second place of Group H.

After a goalless first half, substitute Aaron Hunt broke the deadlock moments after the restart with a close-range header, before doubling his side’s advantage with a clinical finish.

Wanderson’s breakaway goal in 72 minutes briefly made things interesting, but Joshua Guilavogui replied barely a minute later, and substitute Nicklas Bendtner struck twice in the dying minutes to add further gloss to the scoreline.

Wolfsburg started brightly, and fashioned the first chance of the game after 13 minutes, when Kevin De Bruyne’s footwork saw him move into shooting space, only to miss the far post by inches.

Not long after that, Krasnodar responded when Odil Ahmedov ran onto an early through ball, but saw his finish blocked by Diego Benaglio at the front post.


Both sides traded spells of possession, and an acrobatic effort from Wanderson nearly gave the visitors the lead in spectacular fashion, but for a great Benaglio save.

De Bruyne then drove forward on the break, feeding Guilavogui on the right, who squeezed a shot about an inch too wide.

Dieter Hecking threw on Hunt for the second half, and the substitute needed only 60 seconds to make an impact, planting a close-range header past an unconvincing Andrey Dikan from Christian Trasch’s cross.

Hunt doubled his side’s advantage soon after, once again profiting from Trasch’s feed, this time racing clear of the defence to tuck the ball under the keeper.

With 18 minutes to go, Wanderson slid a similar finish under Benaglio to set a few pulses racing in the stands.

However, they needn’t have bothered worrying as straight form kickoff, De Bruyne crossed for Guilavogui to slide home from inside the six-yard area.

With only a few minutes left, Andreas Granqvist fouled Hunt inside the area, giving Bendtner the chance to score from the spot.

The Dane was not done, and buried another from close range in injury time to round off a convincing win.