Mainz 2 - 0 Wolfsburg: Julian Draxler sent off as woeful Wolfsburg crash to defeat at Mainz

Mainz moved into the top half of the Bundesliga after inflicting a 2-0 defeat on third-placed Wolfsburg.

After Wolfsburg's Julian Draxler was shown an early red card Pablo De Blasis gave the hosts the lead, capitalising on a mistake by goalkeeper Diego Benaglio.

Yunus Malli added a second in the 75th minute to complete Mainz's win.

Wolfsburg were reduced to 10 men in the 14th minute when Draxler went in with his foot high and caught Gonzalo Jara on his head, the referee judging it dangerous enough to brandish a straight red.

It left the Wolves a man down for 75 minutes of the game and they struggled to come to terms with the setback, giving possession away easily.

A mistake by Benaglio then gifted Mainz the lead. The Swiss goalkeeper could not hold Jairo Samperio's cross and instead touched the ball down for De Blasis, who scored from close range.

Benaglio dropped a couple more crosses and was lucky there were no takers, while Naldo almost diverted the ball into his own goal as Wolfsburg seemed intent on shooting themselves in the foot again.

At the other end, chances were few and far between, with Draxler's invention missing and nobody prepared to take on his mantle.

One goal looked set to be enough for Mainz to take the points, but they added a second for good measure with 15 minutes remaining.

Malli's low shot found the bottom left-hand corner, earning him his seventh goal of the season.

Yoshinori Muto wasted a glorious opportunity to net a third late on, but Mainz were already home and dry.