Weghorst brace extends Wolfsburg’s unbeaten start

Wolfsburg 2-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
Goals: 0-1 Dost (pen, 63'), 1-1 Weghorst (pen, 76'), 2-1 Weghorst (88')

One of two teams yet to taste Bundesliga defeat this season, Wolfsburg started the more confident side and went closest when Xaver Schlager had an effort deflected onto the post. Right-back Kevin Mbabu was making a nuisance of himself on his first start of the season and forced a smart save out of Kevin Trapp from a corner. Evan N’Dicka then had to clear a half-stopped Maximilian Philipp effort off the line and centre-back Maxence Lacroix came within inches of heading home a corner inside the six-yard box. It was a dominant first-half display by the Wolves as they allowed Frankfurt next to nothing in the way of chances, but goalscoring opportunities remained at a premium.

Eintracht were better after the break and had the first real chance of the game when Daichi Kamada squared a pass perfectly into the run of Filip Kostic, who’d drifted into space centrally, but the left winger blasted over unchallenged from 16 yards on his weaker right foot. Only moments later the Wolves had their moment to strike, but Philipp was denied by Trapp who then got up quickly to thwart an almost certain goal from Weghorst on the rebound. Somewhat against the run of play, it was Frankfurt who took the lead when awarded a penalty after a VAR review for a John Brooks push on Martin Hinteregger. Former Wolves man Bas Dost stepped up to score his fourth goal of the season. But it was Wolfsburg’s current big striker Weghorst who had the final say. First, he converted a penalty at the other end after Stefan Ilsanker handled Philipp’s cross before tucking home a Schlager through ball in the closing minutes.

• Weghorst is Wolfsburg’s leading scorer this term with nine goals, finding the net in each of his last five games. The last VfL player to manage such a hot streak was Edin Dzeko in May 2009.
• The Dutchman has converted nine of his 10 Bundesliga penalties. His sole miss was on Matchday 7 against Hoffenheim.
• The Wolves have found the net at least once in each of their last 16 games with Frankfurt, their best such run against any current top-flight team.
• Wolfsburg have come from behind to earn points in six games this season (W2, D4) – a league high.
• Former Wolfsburg striker Dost converted just his second penalty in the Bundesliga. His first had come for VfL in September 2015 against Hertha Berlin.
• Frankfurt have converted each of their last 12 penalties in the league. The last person to miss was Marco Fabian in April 2017.

Watch: Weghorst: "It's amazing how it's going"

Wolfsburg: Casteels (c) – Mbabu (William 90’+4), Lacroix, Brooks, Roussillon - Baku, Schlager, Arnold – Brekalo (Bialek 71’), Weghorst, Philipp (Klaus 90’+2)
Unused subs: Pervan, Otavio, Gerhardt, Ginczek, Siersleben, Victor
Out: Guilavogui (thigh), Malli (back), Mehmedi (Achilles tendon), Steffen (groin)
Coach: Oliver Glasner 

Frankfurt: Trapp - Abraham (c), Hinteregger, N’Dicka – Durm (Da Costa 85’), Sow, Ilsanker (Younes 90’), Rode (Barkok 85’), Kostic - Kamada - Dost
Unused subs: Schubert, Zuber, Toure, Hasebe, Chandler, Kohr
Out: Ache (hamstring), Silva (muscular), Willems (knee)
Coach: Adi Hütter

Watch: Dost: "I'm disappointed"