Defending champions bought down by Bayer Leverkusen

Defending champions bought down by Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen survived a late fightback to keep their early Bundesliga title challenge on track following a battling 3-2 win at reigning champions Wolfsburg.

An even contest was tipped in the visitors' favour after 31 minutes when Wolves goalkeeper Diego Benaglio saw red for a professional foul on Eren Derdiyok, and the visitors soon capitalised when Simon Rolfes opened the scoring.

Rolfes doubled his tally from the penalty spot after 51 minutes but the dismissal of Derdiyok for a second yellow card two minutes later gave Wolfsburg heart.

Stefan Kiessling quickly extinguished that hope as he hit Leverkusen's third, although late goals from Zvjezdan Misimovic (76) and Grafite (80, penalty) meant the visitors endured some nervy moments before the final whistle sounded.

Neither side gave much away in front of goal in a cagey opening but Wolfsburg's gameplan suffered a setback on the half-hour when Benaglio rushed out of his area and took down Derdiyok with a clumsy challenge which ended in an inevitable dismissal.

Nothing came from the resulting free-kick but the visitors did go ahead after 38 minutes when Rolfes fired home his first of the afternoon.

Wolfsburg's substitute goalkeeper Andre Lenz, brought on for the unfortunate Makoto Hasebe following Benaglio's red card, performed heroics to first deny Derdiyok and then Obafemi Martins, but was helpless to stop Rolfes' effort from close range.

Derdiyok was proving a thorn in the side of the home defence and created the opening for goal number two after 51 minutes, the Swiss forward drawing a foul from Andrea Barzagli in the area and winning a penalty which Rolfes gleefully smashed home.

The battle between Derdiyok and Barzagli continued, however, and ended in tears two minutes later when the Leverkusen man picked up a second yellow card for a foul on the defender, leaving both teams with 10 men.

Leverkusen looked home and hosed when Kiessling made it 3-0 after 58 minutes following good work by Renato Augusto, but Armin Veh's side were not done yet.

A Misimovic free-kick reduced the deficit to 3-1 after 76 minutes, and when Hans Sarpei felled Edin Dzeko in the area 10 minutes from time, Grafite bagged the Wolves' second from the spot.

The late goals set up a frantic finale but the hosts failed to find the leveller as they sank to a third successive defeat.