Wolfsburg 3 : 1 Inter Milan - Wolfsburg claim comeback win

Posted Friday, March 13, 2015 by PA

Kevin De Bruyne inspired Wolfsburg to a 3-1 win over Inter Milan to put the Germans in control of their Europa League last-16 tie.

Rodrigo Palacio had Inter ahead early but Naldo equalised before a De Bruyne brace after the break completed an impressive turnaround for the Bundesliga outfit.

Inter boss Roberto Mancini will now hope that the away goal will give his side an edge when the Wolves travel to the San Siro in a week's time.

It took Inter just five minutes to take the lead through Palacio. Wolfsburg attempted to clear but Danilo D'Ambrosio won the battle in midfield and the ball fell to Mauro Icardi who threaded a pass into Palacio's path and the Argentinian slotted home between Diego Benaglio's legs.

The home side were having the better of possession but failing to do a great deal with it and Andre Schurrle's speculative effort brought a routine save from Juan Pablo Carrizo.

The goalkeeper was called upon to make a far more impressive save moments later as Daniel Caligiuri got a head to Ricardo Rodriguez's cross and Carrizo did well to make the stop before tipping the ball over the bar.

Wolfsburg were level from the resulting corner, though, as an unmarked Naldo met De Bruyne's set-piece on the penalty spot and powered home a header which Carrizo got to but could not stop.

Adelino Vieirinha then had a chance to put the Germans ahead just before the break but his shot from just inside the area was well saved by a fully-stretched Carrizo.

Caligiuri and Fredy Guarin exchanged chances in a frenetic opening to the second half and Palacio should have done better when put through by Davide Santon but fired wide.

And Inter were punished for that miss in the 63rd miinute as Carrizo's mistake helped De Bruyne make it 2-1. The keeper attempted to play a short pass out but only succeeded in finding Vieirinha who crossed for the Belgian to apply a crisp finish from 12 yards.

De Bruyne had been running the show after the break and got the third with 15 minutes to play, taking advantage of Nemanja Vidic's foul on Caligiuri to bend home a free-kick.

And the 23-year-old almost had his hat-trick in the first minute of stoppage-time as he played a smart one-two but could only drag his shot across the face of goal.