Thanks to a deserved 3-1 win against FC Bayern, who had a lot of personnel changes, VfB Stuttgart made the race for runner-up in the Bundesliga even more exciting.
Preliminary decision: Stuttgart’s Woo-Yeong Jeong (left) overcomes Manuel Neuer from close range. IMAGO/Eibner
Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeneß changed his starting eleven twice after the 2-2 draw against Leverkusen, when the champions were on the verge of their first defeat of the season: Instead of Mittelstädt and Millot (both 5th yellow cards), Rouault and Stiller (after 5th yellow cards) started. .
Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel rotated to six positions after the 2-2 draw against Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final. Instead of Mazraoui, Laimer, Goretzka, Müller, Sané (all bench) and Musiala (not in the squad), Davies, Pavlovic, Guerreiro, Gnabry, Choupo-Moting and Tel played.
Guerreiro out early, Dier injured
Curiosity in the run-up to the game: A swarm of bees had nested in the tripod of a stadium loudspeaker and had to be removed by the fire department around an hour and a half before the game started.
Once the ball rolled, the insects were no longer affected. Stuttgart had more of the game throughout the first half – and also had their first good chance: Führich forced Neuer into a flying save (10th). It was also bad luck for Tuchel in the early stages: Guerreiro hurt his ankle in the run-up to Führich’s chance and had to be replaced by Goretzka a few minutes later (17th), while Dier suffered a laceration on his forehead. At least the Englishman was able to continue playing.
Stergiou with a premiere – Bayern are lucky
As a result, the Munich team continued to struggle against the agile Stuttgart team and didn’t have any great chances before the half-time break. VfB was different: Guirassy took a volley on the edge of the penalty area, Dier cleared it with his head just in front of the goal line (28th). Shortly afterwards, the Swabians took the lead after a throw-in. After a one-two with Undav, Stergiou appeared half-right in the penalty area and skilfully beat Neuer with a lob to score his first Bundesliga goal (29th).
The fact that it was still 1-1 at the break was due to a penalty decision by referee Tobias Welz, who somewhat surprisingly decided on a penalty after Anton made slight contact with his arm in Gnabry’s face and did not see the scene himself after a VAR check watched on video. Kane once again converted confidently from the spot (37th).
The focus of the penalty decision in favor of Munich was referee Tobias Welz. IMAGO/Jan Huebner
After the break, Dier, who had ended the first half with a turban, also stayed out after Guerreiro. Upamecano came into the game (46th). Little changed in the game in the second half compared to the first. Stuttgart had more of the game, Bayern increasingly lurked on the counterattack. Choupo-Moting narrowly missed one of Munich’s best chances of the game to date (48′). On the other hand, Neuer saved twice against Führich (51st, 53rd).
Jeong and Silas decide the game
In the final phase the game became a little more open. The Munich team also had a few half-chances, but the winning goal would come from the other side – thanks to a co-production between two VfB jokers: Silas had a little too much space on the left to cross. In the six-yard box, former Munich player Jeong headed from a tight angle past Neuer, who was no longer able to make a decisive save, past the right post to make it 2-1 (83′). In stoppage time, Silas even made the final score 3-1 (90+3).
Goals and cards
1:0 Stergiou (29′)
1:1
Kane (37′)
Match dates Stuttgart Bavaria
Game info
Stadium MHP-Arena spectators 60,058 (sold out)
For FC Bayern, the focus is now on the Champions League again; on Wednesday the record champions will be guests at Real Madrid for the semi-final second leg (9 p.m.). The Bundesliga continues at home against Wolfsburg on Sunday (5:30 p.m.). The next Bundesliga game awaits Stuttgart on Friday, then at FC Augsburg (8.30 p.m.).