Wolfsburg threw away the chance to climb eight points clear of the chasing pack in second place on Sunday, but were frustrated by a resilient Paderborn at the Volkswagen Arena.
The Wolves converted some early pressure to take a lead into the break, but were made to pay for a missed penalty when they conceded one of their own early in the second half, as they failed to convert any of 14 second half chances.
Lukas Kruse had to be alert in the visitor’s goal early on as Vieirinha saw his long range shot saved, before Bas Dost then went close but again, Kruse was equal to it.
The early pressure paid off though after 17 minutes, when Vieirinha angled a header past Kruse, and with the ball travelling towards the right hand corner, a sliding Rafa could only divert the ball towards his own crossbar and into the net.
Many predicted the floodgates to open after that, after seven goals shipped in Paderborn’s last two away games to Augsburg and Bremen, though it was clear Breitenreiter was expecting a lot more from his team defensively this week.
They got a huge break after half an hour though, when Gräfe pointed to the spot giving Perisic the perfect chance to double the lead. However, his spot-kick was poor, and Kruse became the hero as he kept the score at one apiece.
Another big chance passed them by 10 minutes before the break, when Bas Dost found himself beating Kruse, only to see his effort fly off the woodwork and away. Whatever the Wolves did, they couldn’t extend their slender lead.
Stoppelkamp had the visitors best chance late in the first half, when he broke costless in the area but shot straight at Benaglio, when he really should’ve done better.
Kutschke came on for Brückner in the second period, as the away side were eager to make Hecking’s side pay for their missed chances. That they did just five minutes in, when Naldo fouled in the area, giving Meha the perfect chance to equalise from the spot. Meha stepped up, and sent Benaglio the wrong way to make it all square.
Heads did not drop in the home camp though, and they almost went ahead instantly, though again Bas Dost was foiled by Kruse as his header went straight at the Paderborn ‘keeper. The striker was having one of his off days and 10 minutes later he again was given a glorious opportunity though it was no huge surprise when Kruse grabbed the effort with a sigh of relief.
Hunt and Caligiuri were given the chance to be the match winner as they came on with 20 to go, with the usual flair of de Bruyne somewhat lacking today, possibly still suffering from their midweek jaunt to Lille in the Europa League.
Midfielder Naldo went close with two headers late on, and Bas Dost’s replacement, Nicklas Bendtner also had the chance to be the match winner, though he saw his shot parried by Kruse late in injury time.
It was a frustrating game for the Wolves to draw, especially with over 20 shots in the game, though they still stay well ahead in the race for the Champions League. That point was Paderborn's 18th already this season, and that takes them four points clear of the bottom four, which will no doubt please their fans as we close in on the winter break.