Wolfsburg have retained their status in the Bundesliga thanks to a 4-1 aggregate victory over relegation playoff opponents Holstein Kiel.

Die Wolfe headed into the second leg with a 3-1 advantage thanks to goals from Divock Origi, Josip Brekalo and Yunus Malli.

The contest at Kiel's ground started well for the home side as Aaron Seydel received the ball on the edge of the box before unleashing a shot, but he sliced the attempt and the ball dropped wide.

A few minutes later, Malli had the ball in the back of the net for Wolfsburg, but the hosts were let off as the goal was ruled out thanks to the use of VAR.

Neither side could break the deadlock before the half-time interval, which benefited the visitors due to their already healthy lead, but they upped the pace in the second half.

Maximilian Arnold managed to swerve his way past defenders and into the box before trying to direct the ball into the left corner, but Kenneth Kronholm made a crucial save.

The goalkeeper was not as lucky from the resulting corner, though, as Arnold found Robin Knoche, who leaped above the stationary bodies in the box to head the ball home.

The goal deflated Kiel as they had an almost impossible mountain to climb with just 15 minutes left to play, and they nearly conceded another when Origi latched on to Arnold's pass before hitting the ball wide of the post.

The hosts managed to find the back of the net through Rafael Czichos, but a late comeback was not to be as referee Daniel Siebert disallowed the goal due to handball.

In the end, it was a relatively comfortable victory for Wolfsburg, who managed to survive relegation last season.

Kiel (4-1-4-1): Kronholm; Herrmann, Schmidt, Czichos, van den Bergh; Kinsombi; Schindler, Mühling, Weilandt, Seydel; Ducksch

Wolfsburg (4-1-4-1): Casteels; William, Knoche, Brooks, Uduokhai; Guilavogui; Steffen, Malli, Arnold, Brekalo; Origi