After taking just one point from his first two games in charge, Dieter Hecking took his side to Leverkusen with hopes of instilling some much-needed impetus into their Bundesliga survival fight.
Jonas Wind got the visitors off to the perfect start, firing an emphatic left-foot shot past Mark Flekken after showing great strength to hold off Loic Bade.
Wolfsburg’s joy soon turned to frustration when the referee controversially pointed to the spot, ruling that Joakim Maehle had overstepped the mark with his challenge on Ibrahim Maza, allowing Alex Grimaldo to calmly stroke the subsequent spot-kick down the middle of the goal.
Feeling aggrieved by the penalty decision, Maehle channelled that anger to restore the away side’s narrow advantage with immediate effect, rifling a powerful shot from distance out of the goalkeeper’s reach after the hosts failed to deal with Grabara’s long kick forward from kick-off.
Matters got worse for Kasper Hjulmand’s charges when Christian Eriksen sent Flekken the wrong way from 12 yards after the referee consulted the video technology and awarded the penalty for Tapsoba’s mis-timed tackle on Mohamed Amoura.
However, just as Die Wolfe thought they had done enough to establish a two-goal half-time lead, Grimaldo reduced the deficit with his second goal of a captivating first period, drilling a low strike into the near corner to complete his third brace of the Bundesliga season.
The effort on the stroke of half-time did not deter Hjulmand from turning to his bench, introducing Patrik Schick in a change that quickly paid dividends after Sael Kumbedi tumbled into Nathan Tella in the box.
Instead of Grimaldo, Schick assumed responsibility for the game’s third penalty and waited for Grabara to commit to the dive before he rolled the ball in the opposite direction.
With momentum in the home side’s favour, Tapsoba took charge of a pinball situation in the box, steering the loose ball in off the far post to put his team in front for the first time in the contest.
Maza then made sure of the three points, curling his shot through Grabara’s defences after Leverkusen cut Wolfsburg open with a well-worked corner routine.
There was still time left for Malik Tillman to add a sixth, piling more misery on the 17th-placed Wolves, who remain three points off the relegation playoff spot. As for the hosts, they stay in sixth position and four points adrift of the top four.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Alex Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen)