Wolfsburg stay unbeaten despite Rudy stunner

Wolfsburg 1-1 Hoffenheim
Goals: 0-1 Rudy (6'), 1-1 Mehmedi (36')

Rudy's goal was Hoffenheim's first on the road this season and crowned his 200th Bundesliga appearance for the club he re-joined in the summer. Finding space on the edge of the box to receive Pavel Kaderabek’s header down, the Germany international sliced across the ball on his weaker left foot to send it curling away from Pavao Pervan into the far corner. Ihlas Bebou then stung the Wolfsburg goalkeeper's hands before the home side found their groove. After top scorer Wout Weghorst blasted over from inside the box, Oliver Baumann was forced into quick successive saves from William and Yannick Gerhardt before Mehmedi fired high into the Hoffenheim net after a Weghorst backheel to equalise. Josip Brekalo and Robert Skov both thought they had given their sides the lead before the break, but the Wolfsburg effort was ruled out for offside and the Hoffenheim man's rocket shot off the bar bounced the wrong side of the line.

The visitors started the second half on the front foot and came close when Dennis Geiger's cross following a corner narrowly evaded Bebou at the far post. However, it was Wolfsburg with the ball in the back of the net next when Mehmedi tucked away William's low cross, but the offside flag was raised. The industrious Switzerland international came close again when meeting a Lukas Nmecha cross from the right, only to see his header blocked by Stefan Posch. With former coach Julian Nagelsmann, now of league leaders RB Leipzig, watching on from the stands, TSG substitute Christoph Baumgartner had a rasping effort turned behind by Pervan before the Wolfsburg goalkeeper denied substitute Sargis Adamyan on the break late on.

• Wolfsburg are undefeated after five games for the third time in their Bundesliga history. When they did it in 2008, they went on to win the league; in 2015 they ended up eighth.
• The Wolves have now recorded three successive 1-1 draws in the Bundesliga for the first time in their history.
• After scoring in Thursday's UEFA Europa League win over Oleksandriya, Mehmedi netted his first Bundesliga goal since March against Fortuna Düsseldorf.
• Rudy made his 200th Bundesliga appearance for Hoffenheim. Only Andreas Beck has played more times for TSG (216).
• The goal was Rudy's 12th in those 200 games and his first since March 2017 against Ingolstadt.
• Hoffenheim's Adamyan came on for his Bundesliga debut. He is only the second Armenian to play in the league after Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Line-ups

Wolfsburg: Pervan – Knoche, Guilavogui (c), Tisserand – William (Mbabu 79’), Arnold, Gerhardt, Steffen – Mehmedi (Klaus 86'), Brekalo (Nmecha 73’) – Weghorst
Unused subs: Menzel, Bruma, Malli, Roussillon, Azzaoui, Victor
Out: Brooks (hamstring), Camacho (ankle), Casteels (shin), Ginczek (back), Otavio (match fitness), Rexhbecaj (ill), Schlager (broken ankle)
Coach: Oliver Glasner

Hoffenheim: Baumann – Posch (Akpoguma 88'), Vogt (c), Hübner – Kaderabek, Rudy, Grillitsch, Skov – Geiger (Baumgartner 76’) - Bebou, Belfodil (Adamyan 70’)
Unused subs: Pentke, Bicakcic, Stafylidis, Nordtveit, Rupp
Out: Kramaric (knee), Ochs (ankle), Samassekou (hamstring), Zuber (bruised foot)
Coach: Alfred Schreuder

Watch: Rudy: “You need a bit of luck for those shots”