Berlin, Feb 23 (IANS) Bas Dost’s brace secured VfL Wolfsburg three points against struggling Hertha Berlin SC while Borussia Monchengladbach snatched a late draw against Hamburger SV to close the 22nd round of Bundesliga.
Wolfsburg carved out a hard-earned 2-1 victory on home soil against relegation threatened Berlin Sunday. Top striker Dost smoothed the way for the 14th win of the season. Berlin suffered their second straight loss to remain in the drop zone, reports Xinhua.
The hosts grabbed a fairy tale start into the encounter as their in-form striker Dost was on target with just 10 minutes into the game. The Dutchman made use of Andre Schuerrle’s header to slot home.
With the lead, Wolfsburg retracted while Berlin recovered to respond by restoring parity twenty minutes later. Julian Schieber cancelled out Dost’s opener with a diving header following a cross into the box by Valentin Stocker.
After the restart, Wolfsburg increased their offensive actions yet the spectators at the Volkswagen Arena had to wait until the 74th minute before Dost sealed his brace.
Luiz Gustavo’s shot on target dropped off the right post, into the path of Dost, who tapped in 11th goal of the season putting the game beyond doubt.
With the victory, Wolfsburg remain in the hunt of front-runners Bayern Munich. The “Wolves” sit on the second place with 47 points, eight points adrift of Bayern. Meanwhile, Berlin remains on the penultimate position of the table with only 21 points from 22 games.
Elsewhere, third positioned Monchengladbach dropped point as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Hamburg.
Hamburg made use of Monchengladbach’s poor chance conversion when Zoltan Stieber broke the deadlock following a fast break in the 73rd minute.
Monchengladbach pressed frenetically for the equaliser and they were rewarded for their efforts in the dying seconds of the injury time as substitute Branimir Hrgota headed home a corner to make it 1-1 on the scoreboards.
“We were not 100 percent focused today (Sunday). Hamburg fought and ran a lot. However, the share of the spoils will be very important for us,” Monchengladbach coach Lucien Favre said.
With the draw, Monchengladbach remained on the third place whilst Hamburg slipped to the 14th place.