Ricardo Rodriguez brace takes Wolfsburg past Stuttgart

Ricardo Rodriguez scored twice as Wolfsburg condemned bottom-placed Stuttgart to a 3-1 Bundesliga defeat at the Volkswagen Arena.

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Wolfsburg could have been ahead inside four minutes had Robin Knoche not diverted the ball a few inches wide after being gifted the space to meet a corner.

Stuttgart battled impressively for long spells of the first half, but missed a great opportunity to break the deadlock when Diego Benaglio kept out Filip Kostic's close-range effort.

The action would take a dramatic turn with a frantic spell before the break, with Florian Klein first putting the visitors under pressure by bringing down Daniel Caligiuri inside the box.

Ricardo Rodriguez stepped up from 12 yards to slot home a calm penalty which looked to have put the hosts on course for a comfortable victory.

However, Stuttgart responded impressively to get back on level terms a few minutes later when Martin Harnik found the space to head home from Kostic's inviting cross.

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A patient spell of possession created an opportunity for Bas Dost early in the second half, but the in-form Wolfsburg forward could only hit a tame effort straight at Sven Ulreich.

The lead was Wolfsburg's once again as Rodriguez scored his second of the afternoon by picking out the corner with a 40-yard free kick that evaded everyone in the box.

It was left to substitute Andre Schurrle to pile more misery on Stuttgart late on as he scored his first goal for the club with an emphatic finish after linking up with Kevin De Bruyne.