Mario Mandzukic scored the winner for Wolfsburg a week after he was fined by the club as they beat Schalke 2-1 in the Bundesliga.
Raul cancelled out Mandzukic s opener but the Croatian target man bobbed up again in the 82nd minute to clinch the three points for the 2008-09 champions.
Mandzukic made headlines in midweek when he was fined by returning manager Felix Magath for failing to follow team tactics in their 3-0 loss to Freiburg.
He managed to keep his starting place and it paid dividends as he starred in the win that moved Wolves clear of the drop zone.
In Sunday s other game, Nurnberg made Cologne pay twice from the penalty spot with a 2-1 win away from home.
Veteran Belgian Timmy Simons buried both spot kicks within the space of four minutes in the first half.
The first came after 31 minutes when Pedro Geromel fouled Markus Feulner in the box. Geromel s luck only worsened when he took down Thomas Pekhart four minutes later, Simons hammering the penalty with similar ferocity into the bottom left corner.
Adil Chihi pulled one back for Cologne in the 39th minute before a twist of fate saw Pekhart sent from the field for Nurnberg following a second yellow card for a challenge on Geromel.
Despite being a man down Nurnberg continued to look the livelier and when Miso Brecko received a straight red for Cologne the ledger was balanced once again and the points looked safe from there for Nurnberg.
