Wolfsburg preserve Bundesliga status after play-off win over Kiel

Wolfsburg secured top-flight safety thanks to their Bundesliga relegation play-off victory against Holstein Kiel.

Featuring in a relegation play-off for the second successive season, 2009 champions Wolfsburg preserved their Bundesliga status with Monday's 1-0 win over the second-tier outfit at Holstein-Stadion.

Robin Knoche's 75th-minute header was all that separated the two teams as Wolfsburg sealed a 4-1 aggregate triumph and a spot in the 2018-19 Bundesliga.

Wolfsburg, who finished 16th and three points adrift of safety during the season, took a 3-1 lead into the return leg after Divock Origi and Yunus Malli starred at the Volkswagen Arena.

Kiel were looking to join second division champions Fortuna Dusseldorf and Nurnberg in the Bundesliga but they were unable to pull off a turnaround – Knoche's thumping header ending the home team's hopes with 15 minutes remaining.