Wolfsburg salvage 4-4 draw at Nürnberg with late drama

VfL Wolfsburg snatched a dramatic point in a 4-4 draw at 1. FC Nürnberg on Saturday. Alessio Besio scored twice in stoppage time to rescue a result after the team had thrown away a two-goal lead.

Hauke Wahl opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a turn and shot from a Muhammed Damar corner. Damar doubled the advantage in the 29th minute with a spectacular curler from 20 metres. Nürnberg turned the game after the break. Piet Scobel struck in the 52nd and 59th minutes, with Mohamed Ali Zoma making it 3-2 in the 70th minute. Substitute Besio headed in a corner in the first minute of added time for 3-3. Giannis Masouras seemed to have won it for the hosts six minutes later, but Besio nodded in again with the last action of the game.

Wahl laments second-half drop

Captain Hauke Wahl criticised the team's inability to kill the game. "We failed to go into halftime with a bigger lead," the defender said. "And after the break, Nürnberg took the wind out of our sails." The defence, featuring substitute Kilian Fischer for the injured Seal Kumbedi, was exposed repeatedly in the second period.

The match was also fiery. A melee following a foul on Fabian Reese drew substitutes Maximilian Arnold and Pirmin Schwegler onto the pitch. Schwegler and Nürnberg coach Miroslav Klose were involved in a heated exchange.

The point keeps Wolfsburg fifth in the 2. Bundesliga table. Next up is a home fixture against third-placed 1. FC Heidenheim on Saturday. The last meeting in January ended 1-1.