The Bundesliga soccer team VfB Stuttgart has given a convincing answer to its Champions League debacle. Three days after the 1:5 in Belgrade, the German runner-up won a lucky 2:2 (1:1) at Werder Bremen despite being behind twice.
Ermedin Demirovic scored both goals for VfB, he scored in the 20th and 84th minutes. The 20 million euro purchase from FC Augsburg made up for the two deficits caused by Justin Njinmah (6th) and Jens Stage (77th). And in front of 42,100 spectators, he also prevented the previous season’s runners-up from slipping into the second half of the Bundesliga table.
The loss of three top players in the summer. The injuries to three national players in the past few weeks. And the challenge of getting used to the new Champions League game rhythm with a newly formed team: That’s the cocktail that is so bad for Stuttgart right now.
The more than 4,000 VfB fans in the stadium were correspondingly worried when the score was 0-1 after the opponent’s first chance. Njinmah headed in a beautiful cross from Marvin Ducksch from close range.
Referee takes back penalty
The people of Stuttgart started out visibly unsettled. However, Werder made the mistake of retreating too far after a strong start and largely leaving the ball to VfB.
That brought the guests back into the game. And that also led to the equalizer when Bremen goalkeeper Michael Zetterer misjudged a cross from Maximilian Mittelstädt to the goalscorer Demirovic. Stuttgart were now the better team until the break. The strong left side with Mittelstädt and Chris Führich in particular caused problems for Bremen.
However, VfB was also lucky in this phase: a foul penalty for Werder was taken back after video evidence was used (30th). And Njinmah hit the post again with a beautiful shot from distance (45th + 4).
The second half began just as excitingly as the first had ended. First, Josha Vagnoman missed a good counter-attack opportunity for VfB (50th). Shortly afterwards, Werder’s Mitchell Weiser was a little too surprised that he was able to finish so freely in the opponent’s penalty area. He sent a header past the goal from just five meters (56′).
Whistles for Woltemade
Werder were the much more dangerous team in the second half. In the end the corner kick ratio alone was 11:2. The expected wear and tear of strength was now evident for the Stuttgart team. After the injuries to El Bilal Touré, Deniz Undav and Jamie Leweling, new signing Ameen Al-Dakhil also reported sick.
That’s why coach Sebastian Hoeneß was left with only a few alternatives, such as ex-Bremer Nick Woltemade, whom he substituted in the 64th minute amid occasional whistles from the Werder fans. The 22-year-old decided against his youth club and for VfB in the summer.
When Woltemade returned to the Weserstadion, they experienced a turbulent final phase. Demirovic’s 2-2 came out of nowhere. Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nübel parried one last great Bremen chance for Ducksch (88th). In the last action of the game, Woltemade almost made it 3-2 (90th + 6th).
