A first-ever Bundesliga hattrick from goalgetter Grafite rounded off three successful days of action for VfL Wolfsburg.
The Brazilian striker bagged the lot as the Wolves followed up Thursday's 5-1 UEFA Cup mauling of SC Heerenveen with a 3-0 (1-0) victory over bottom club Enegie Cottbus.
That made it six home wins in a row for Felix Magath's side in all competitions, moving them into the top third of the table, and six games home or away without a win for Cottbus.
Soft penalty call
Grafite got the home side on their way courtesy of a disputed 36th-minute penalty, after Edin Dzeko went down in a tussle involving minimal contact with Cottbus' Savo Pavicevic inside the box. Goal number two finished off a slick attacking sequence in the 55th minute, and the striker completed his hattrick, and the scoring, with ten minutes remaining.
The Wolves made a slow start in front of a 23,000 crowd in the VW Arena, creating just two chances of note in the first half-hour, Dzeko going close with a shot (6.) and Zvjezdan Misimovic doing likewise with a header (28.).
The first chance of the match had fallen to Energie however, Emil Jula hitting the post in the fourth minute following a mistake by Alexander Madlung.
Wolves wrap it up
Madlung almost made amends four minutes after VfL had got their penalty break, the defender heading a Grafite corner just over.
VfL maintained the tempo at the start of the second half and were rewarded with a second goal from Grafite.
The guests had little to show for themselves up front, coming closest by way of a 71st-minute Cagdas Atan free kick, parried by home keeper Diego Benaglio. Not long after that Grafite put the result beyond the last vestiges of doubt with number three.
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