Leverkusen into second after burying Wolves early
Bayer Leverkusen moved up to second in the Bundesliga after a ruthless first-half showing saw it down Wolfsburg 3-1 at Volkswagen Arena.
Kasper Hjulmand's side netted three times in the first half to take a commanding lead, although Denis Vavro's 57th-minute goal gave Wolfsburg some hope.
Leverkusen needed just nine minutes to take the lead when Alejandro Grimaldo's cross flicked off Malik Tillman, with the ball rolling into the path of Jonas Hofmann to tuck home.
The visitors doubled the advantage through Edmond Tapsoba's 24th-minute header, with the Leverkusen defender finding the bottom-right corner from Aleix Garcia's fine cross.
Hjulmand's team pulled further clear in the 33rd minute when Patrik Schick's clever flick sent Tillman on his way, with the midfielder staying calm to slot past Kamil Grabara.
Struggling Wolfsburg was quick out of the blocks after the break with Konstantinos Koulierakis and Dzenan Pejcinovic forcing stops from Mark Flekken.
The hosts' persistence was rewarded just before the hour when Vavro nodded in from Maximilian Arnold's corner.
Leverkusen should, however, have restored its three-goal advantage fewer than two minutes later, but Ernest Poku clipped the crossbar.
Wolfsburg continued to push to try and reduce the arrears, but the damage had already been done, as its winless run at home in the league stretched to 14 games.
