Goals from Bas Dost, Ricardo Rodriguez and Timm Klose have powered Wolfsburg to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Schalke in the Bundesliga clash at Volkswagen Arena.
Both sides came into the game unbeaten from their first two matches of the season but it was Wolfsburg, missing Manchester City-bound Kevin de Bruyne and reported Inter Milan target Ivan Perisic, who took control of proceedings early on.
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Ralf Fahrmann was called into action early on to save sharply after Johannes Geis deflected Dost's flick towards his own goal, but the home side's pressure told soon afterwards.
A patient passing move saw the ball worked out wide to Christian Trasch, whose superb cross found Dost unmarked six yards out, and the Dutch international volleyed home his second goal of the season to give Dieter Hecking's side a deserved lead.
Wolfsburg continued to dominate after the breakthrough with Vieirinha firing over from 25 yards, but Schalke could have equalised against the run of play when Leroy Sane's hesitation allowed Naldo to get in a crucial recovery challenge.
That chance signalled something of an awakening for the visitors, who visibly grew in confidence and carved out another opportunity when Sane could not convert from Sascha Riether's cross.
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Andre Breitenreiter's side should have been level on the half-hour mark after Wolfsburg lost possession in a dangerous area, but Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was unable to keep his effort down after being picked out by Maxim Choupo-Moting.
Riether almost gifted the home side a second with a weak pass back to Fahrmann, but the Schalke goalkeeper was able to recover to prevent Max Kruse from taking advantage of the error.
Geis's stunning half-volley from 25 yards flew narrowly wide after the restart, before Dost missed a golden opportunity to double the lead when he could only head Trasch's cross wide from close range.
It was 2-0 soon afterwards, however, when Rodriguez converted from the spot after Sead Kolasinac's rash challenge on Luiz Gustavo from a corner.
Wolfsburg put the game beyond doubt just two minutes later with their third of the night when Klose met Rodriguez's corner with a superb near-post volley.
Huntelaar missed two excellent opportunities to give Schalke something to celebrate as Wolfsburg took their foot off the pedal, but the home side cruised home to extend their unbeaten start to the season.
Tom Nightingale
