Wolfsburg 2 PSV 0: Dost, Kruse send hosts top of Group B

Wolfsburg went top of Group B after a 2-0 Champions League victory that extended PSV’s miserable record on German soil.

Bas Dost scored his second goal in as many games just after half-time to give Wolfsburg the lead, and Max Kruse added a second shortly before the hour mark.

Coach Dieter Hecking will hope his side are embarking on a run of form, having seen them end a sequence of four games without a win in their previous outing against Hoffenheim, and the Wolves are in a strong position at the halfway point in the Champions League group stage.

PSV showed little of the quality that saw them defeat Manchester United earlier in the group and the Dutch champions have now not won away at a Bundesliga ground in 15 attempts – a record that extends back to 1977.

Wolfsburg surged forward from the first whistle, and Dost would have opened the scoring had Jeffrey Bruma not made a vital block when Josuha Guilavogui crossed towards the Dutch striker inside the opening minute.

Daniel Caligiuri’s powerful 20-yard drive drew a good save from Jeroen Zoet as Wolfsburg dominated the early exchanges, before PSV finally sprang to life as Luciano Narsingh began to show his pace and feed crosses to Luuk de Jong.

Having lost just one of their previous five fixtures, PSV looked happy to sit and wait for Wolfsburg to attack, but neither side appeared willing to break forward and risk leaving themselves exposed at the back.

Wolfsburg’s best chance of the first half fell to Luiz Gustavo when Caligiuri’s cross found the Brazilian inside the box but his shot on the turn was far too high to test Zoet.

Kruse then had a volley saved by Zoet, before Caligiuri’s throughball found Dost with plenty of space to run into, but his side-footed shot flew wide.

The first half ended in controversial fashion as PSV had strong calls for handball in the box by Naldo waved away, before Adam Maher sent a header wide of the target from Joshua Brenet’s cross, despite being completely unchallenged.

Within seconds of the restart, Ricardo Rodriguez’s probing cross created a chance for Guilavogui, whose shot was well saved by Zoet, but Dost was alert to the rebound and he enjoyed an easy tap-in to give Wolfsburg the lead.

As the atmosphere at the Volkswagen Arena came to life, the tempo of the game accelerated and, with PSV forced to push forward, Wolfsburg found gaps to exploit.

Their lead was extended when Julian Draxler jinked his way past two defenders and drew a save from Zoet at full stretch, but Caligiuri gathered the rebound and crossed for Kruse to nip in and head home the second.

Andres Guardado had a chance to salvage something for the visitors when Davy Propper sent him clean through, but his sweetly struck shot lacked accuracy.

In the dying moments, PSV won a penalty when goalkeeper Diego Benaglio fouled Jurgen Locadia, but the Dutch striker saw his spot-kick saved as Wolfsburg confidently claimed maximum points.