Mario Gomez struck early on to secure Wolfsburg a 1-0 win over RB Leipzig as Ralph Hasenhuttl's men lost further ground in the race for the Bundesliga title.

Leipzig were trailing leaders Bayern Munich by seven points heading into Saturday's encounter at the Red Bull Arena and knew they could not afford to slip up again after last week's draw versus Augsburg.

They got off to a poor start, though, as Gomez needed only nine minutes to hand Wolfsburg the lead following some good work from Daniel Didavi and Yunus Malli.

The hosts struggled to get going and they were fortunate not to concede a second goal early in the second half as Wolfsburg hit the post twice in the space of a minute.

Didavi struck the upright early in the second half with a left-footed strike from outside the area, while Gomez's effort from a narrow angle moments later also struck the woodwork.

Marcel Sabitzer got a chance to level the scoring with 16 minutes left on the clock, but goalkeeper Koen Casteels proved to be too much of an obstacle as Wolfsburg held on for an important win in the battle against the drop.

Leipzig remain second in the table but are now trailing Bayern by 10 points, while Wolfsburg climbed to 14th place and are now three points clear of the relegation play-off spot.