Max Kruse scored a hat-trick as Wolfsburg survived a fightback from Hoffenheim to claim a 4-2 victory this afternoon.
It was a dominant start to the match from the hosts, and the game looked to be as good as over when Wolfsburg struck twice in the opening seven minutes.
Kruse needed less than a minute to break the deadlock as he slotted home from close range after Julian Draxler had collected a long pass and squared the ball to his teammate.
Hoffenheim were stunned by the early setback and fell further behind when the influential Draxler picked out Bas Dost, who headed home from an inviting cross at the back post.
Wolfsburg looked to be on the way to an emphatic win, and they threatened to pull further ahead as Draxler forced Oliver Baumann into a fine save before Dost headed wide.
However, the home fans were silenced when Hoffenheim hit back through Jeremy Toljan, who led a counter-attack and held his nerve to fire past Diego Benaglio.
Despite seeing their deficit halved, Wolfsburg threatened to restore a two-goal advantage when Daniel Caligiuri beat two defenders before testing Baumann.
Wolfsburg looked bright early in the second half, but Hoffenheim shocked Dieter Hecking's side by earning parity when Jonathan Schmid turned the ball in from a tight angle after his first effort was blocked by Benaglio.
The visitors were on level terms for just eight minutes, though, as Kruse scored his second of the afternoon after Luiz Gustavo had done well to pull the ball back on the slide.
Wolfsburg were inches away from putting the game to bed moments later when Vieirinha capitalised on space to curl just past the post from the edge of the box.
Another comeback never arrived for Hoffenheim, and the win was finally secured late on when Kruse converted from Andre Schurrle's inch-perfect lobbed pass.
Callum Mulvihill
