VfL Wolfsburg celebrated their first Bundesliga win under new director of sport Klaus Allofs on Sunday with a 3-1 victory at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, while leaders Bayern Munich finished the weekend eight points clear.
After 13 years as Werder Bremen’s general manager, Allofs announced on Wednesday he had moved to the 2009 German champions and die Wolfe earned their third win in four league games to move up to 13th and away from trouble.
With 48 professionals to cut from the enormous squad he has inherited from former Wolfsburg boss Felix Magath, Allofs has plenty of work to do and must decide if caretaker coach Lorenz-Guenther Koestner gets the job permanently.
Photo: AFP
“I need to talk to the players, sit down and decide over the coming weeks,” Allofs said when asked about his plans to trim the squad.
Wolfsburg named the same team for the third straight game, something they have not done since April 2009.
The guests needed just seven minutes to open the scoring when Japan international midfielder Makoto Hasebe headed home, before Dutch striker Bas Dost added the second on 24 minutes, then defender Naldo netted from an indirect free-kick on 77 minutes.
Swiss striker Edin Derdiyok scored a late consolation for Hoffenheim, who dropped to 14th.
Earlier, 10-man Werder Bremen came from behind to beat Fortuna Duesseldorf 2-1 at home.
It had been a turbulent week for Bremen as Allofs quit after 13 years working alongside coach Thomas Schaaf, but Werder won as Belgium midfielder Kevin de Bruyne — on loan from English Premier League side Chelsea — hit an 82nd-minute winner.
Bayern had their five-match winning away streak broken on Saturday as they were held 1-1 at 10-man Nuremberg.
Mario Mandzukic’s early goal for Munich was canceled out by a strike from Nuremberg’s former Bayern midfielder Markus Feulner, but the point Bayern took from their Bavarian neighbors proved to be enough to extend their lead.
Second-placed Schalke 04 slumped to a 2-0 defeat by Bayer 04 Leverkusen, with Germany international midfielder Andre Schuerrle and striker Stefan Kiessling scoring either side of halftime.
There were three goals in the first 15 minutes at Borussia Dortmund as the defending champions ran out 3-1 winners over second-from-bottom SpVgg Greuther Fuerth.
Eintracht Frankfurt stayed up with the league leaders by claiming a 4-2 win at home over Augsburg having taken an early 2-0 lead.
A second-half own-goal by Roel Brouwers handed VfB Stuttgart a 2-1 win at Borussia Moenchengladbach, while Hamburg SV enjoyed a 1-0 win at home over FSV Mainz 05.
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