An early red card and a double from Ricardo Rodriguez inspired Dieter Hecking’s Wolves side to their first victory of the season on Sunday afternoon.

14 of the last 16 fixtures between these two had seen at least three goals, so this was always going to be a superb clash between two of the Bundesliga’s top teams.

Wolfsburg started the brightest with Rodriguez firing an effort from distance early on, before they got a huge gift on six minutes. A threaded through-ball looked to harbour the first goal until Donati upended Malanda in the box, leaving the referee no choice but to show the red card. Swiss World Cup star Ricardo Rodriguez then stepped up, slotting home to put the Wolves in the lead with barely eight minutes on the clock.

But Leverkusen didn’t let their heads drop, Roger Schmidt has seen his side score for fun this season, and were more than confident they could come back into the game. As usual, Bellarabi was at the forefront of most of the attacking threat, and he let fly from range minutes after going behind, only to see his effort fly wide of Benaglio’s post.

Space was always going to open up with the visitors down to 10 men, and de Bruyne nearly capitalised on that when he let fly with an effort which had the ‘keeper beaten, but struck the upright, keeping the game at 1-0.

The away side grew into the game as the half wore on though, and their persistence paid off with Drmic levelled with half an hour gone. After a long ball forward by Leno, Bellarabi fed Drmic who broke into the box, brushing off a defender, before curling the ball out of Benaglio’s reach, and nestling into the corner.

That paved the way for a big 15 minutes for them – to go into the half at least on par was the aim, and they were the more likely to take the lead with Castro, Jedvaj, Drmic and Oztunali all trying their luck but none managed to test the ‘keeper.

Just as the clock ticked to 45’, the home side dealt a hammer blow and regained the lead through Vieirinha. The ball was played down the left, and a cute cross from de Bruyne found the Portuguese midfielder in space, who powered a header home.

Reinartz and Boenisch entered the fray at the break, in an attempt to freshen up the midfield and salvage something from the game, but the second half started in the same vein as the first with Hecking’s side attacking.

The pressure mounted and took its toll just after the hour, Rodriguez ghosted to the edge of the box and a corner was played directly out to him, as he smashed a volley into the ground and past the outstretched Leno to give them a two goal lead.

Schmidt turned to Kiessling to a bid to complete the improbable, replacing the tired Bellarabi seconds after he had fired two efforts off target. His impact was little though, and with Hecking introducing Aaron Hunt to the match, the fatigued visitors had more pace and trickery to deal with at the back.

With the clock ticking down, the game started to slip further out of the reach of Leverkusen, and the lead became insurmountable with 10 minutes left, when Hunt made it four. Again the attack came down the left, and when the ball was centered, Malanda was able to knock it down for Hunt to roll the ball into the corner.

That was to be all, and the comfortable win will have been welcoming for the Wolves who were beaten by the same scoreline in midweek by Everton. Leverkusen’s week got worse after a 1-0 loss to Monaco, and this loss which ended their unbeaten record on a day where they missed the chance to go top. Leverkusen host Augsburg on Wednesday night while Wolfsburg travel to the capital to play Hertha Berlin on Matchday Five.