Bas Dost came off the bench to score twice as Wolfsburg claimed a 2-0 victory over Hertha Berlin at the Volkswagen Arena this afternoon.
It was the hosts who started the better of the two sides, and they missed a good chance to break the deadlock in the opening exchanges when Nicklas Bendtner, preferred to Dost in attack, sent an effort over after linking up with Draxler.
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The creative Draxler appeared the most likely to make a breakthrough for the home side, but Hertha quickly improved as the first half progressed to carry a threat on the counter.
However, both teams were restricted to speculative efforts for long spells, with Daniel Caligiuri curling a few inches wide of the post from the edge of the box.
After soaking up the pressure from the visitors, Wolfsburg should have been ahead in first-half stoppage time but Tolga Cigerci's low effort was pushed away by Thomas Kraft.
Hertha looked comfortable at the back early in the second half until a moment of hesitancy allowed the ball to drop for Caligiuri, who failed to capitalise as Kraft tipped his shot to safety.
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Neither team were willing to drop deeper in their attempts to find an opener, and Draxler was the next player to go close with a powerful shot which produced a good save from Rune Jarstein.
Left on the bench with an eye on Tuesday's meeting with Bayern, the introduction of Dost proved to be the turning point as Wolfsburg found the breakthrough with 14 minutes of normal time remaining.
Maximilian Arnold was the creator with a defence-splitting pass to Caligiuri, who made sure of the goal by squaring the ball to allow Dost to put them ahead by tapping into an empty net.
The Dutch striker was handed the chance to clinch the points in the closing stages when Fabian Lustenberger brought down Draxler inside the box, and the substitute made no mistake by firing home from the penalty spot.
Callum Mulvihill
