Some inspired performances from Aaron Hunt and Diego Benaglio were enough to secure victory for Wolfsburg. Hunt hit a double from the bench, while Benaglio had an inspired performance in goal; Joshua Guilvagoui notched up his first Wolves goal, just after Wanderson had threatened a comeback. A late Niklas Bendtner brace secured a vital 5-1 win, as Wolfsburg seem set to qualify for the last thirty-two.
There were just three changes for Dieter Hecking's side, as they aimed to keep their excellent start to the season going. Ivica Olic and Sebastian Jung dropped to the bench, Daniel Caliguiri was unavailable due to injury, following the 0-4 win at the weekend; that meant Bas Dost, Vieirinha and Christian Träsch took their places.
Krasnodar could have been just one point behind CSKA Moscow in second place, in the Russian Premier League, but suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Mordovia Saransk. Andrey Sinitsyn, Pavel Mamaev, Marat Izmailov, Joãozinho all made way, with coach Aleh Konanaw keen to make alterations. Andriy Dykan, Yuri Gazinskiy, Wanderson and Ricardo Laborde replaced the aforementioned quartet, the Russians were keen to avenge the 2-4 defeat from a fortnight ago.
The game followed on from the goal-fest in Russia; as Andreas Granqvist, Ari and Kevin de Bruyne all had early chances that went close. No side had a clear cut chance, until Odil Ahmedov had his shot brilliant stop by Diego Benaglio at his near post. The tempo was high, but neither team could find a way through; the Swiss stopper was called into action once more, this time denying Wanderson with a magnificent reaction save.
Sticking to the pattern of the game, the hosts replied with a chance of their own. A brilliant, driving run from de Bruyne earned a three-on-two opportunity for Wolfsburg. Unfortunately for Joshua Guilvagoui, his shot flashed across the face of goal and just wide of Dykan's post. Crossing seemed to be the best way to cause havoc within the Krasnodar half for the remaining minutes, though some confident goalkeeping prevented Bas Dost from poking the ball home.
The hosts' aerial bombardment paid dividends, just minutes into the second half. De Bruyne collected a Dost knock-down, before playing the play wide for Christian Träsch. The right-back sent in a fantastic delivery, which Aaron Hunt couldn't pass up and he headed home his second Wolfsburg goal. Brought in on a costless from Werder Bremen, the versatile midfielder scored less than 120 seconds after coming on for Ivan Perisic.
The visitors issued an almost instant response, but once more Benaglio was on hand to keep his clean sheet in tact. Just a few minutes later, Hunt would have his brace. The exact same combination produced the crucial second goal; de Bruyne knocked the ball out wide, allowing Träsch to send a forty-yard raking ball across to Hunt. His touch was perfect, baring down on Dykan, he finished with aplomb.
The crazy nature of the game continued, as both sides netted within a minute of each other. Wanderson somehow managed to bully Robin Knoche off the ball, then calmly slotted past the seemingly unbeatable Benaglio. Krasnodar could easily have made a comeback, but Guilvagoui's strike put the result beyond doubt. Some lovely play from de Bruyne, yet again, created the chance; he glided past the visiting defence, fired the ball across to the French midfielder and he tapped in his first Wolfsburg goal.
The hosts played out the remainder with confidence to keep pace with Everton at the top of Group H; there was even time for Niklas Bendtner to slot home a late penalty and a cool finish, adding some gloss to a match that could really have gone either way. After Lille's heavy loss to Everton, there's a four point gap between the Wolves and the French side. Krasnodar remain bottom, but their performances have been fantastic and the two-point-haul is an unfair reflection on the efforts of the Russians. Wolfsburg will play host to Everton in three weeks, while Krasnodar welcome Lille to the Kuban Stadium.