In the top game of the 28th Bundesliga matchday between VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund, the black and yellow ultimately retain the upper hand.
Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt led Borussia Dortmund to victory at VfB Stuttgart in a Bundesliga top game with few chances for a long time. In stoppage time, the two offensive players who came on as substitutes scored to make it 2-0 (0-0). When Dortmund had their first real chances to score (90+4 and 90+6), coach Niko Kovac’s team finally struck.
In the duel between the second in the table and the third, the top teams had previously offered the 60,000 spectators anything but an offensive spectacle. Dortmund had largely concentrated on defense, but are increasingly heading towards the next runner-up spot. They also extended their lead over VfB in the table to eleven points. The Westphalians had not been successful against Stuttgart in seven competitive matches in a row.
VfB misses points for their desired participation in the premier class
Given a dominant performance, the defeat is a missed opportunity for third-placed Stuttgart on their hoped-for route to the Champions League. The recently so accurate national striker Deniz Undav, whose role with national coach Julian Nagelsmann had dominated the headlines and topics of conversation, also failed to score this time and was rarely featured.
The hosts dictated the action from the start and for long stretches, but found it difficult to create promising scoring opportunities on offense. In the first half, coach Hoeneß’s team needed almost 20 minutes to become dangerous for the first time.
After Ramy Bensebaini lost the ball, clock setter Angelo Stiller didn’t finish well enough to overcome BVB keeper Gregor Kobel. Chris Führich’s attempt was then blocked. Führich was an asset on the left in the first half, but he didn’t reward his team for that either. His free kick from a promising position a quarter of an hour later flew over the goal, as did a shot from a corner shortly before half-time.
BVB did not put itself in the spotlight offensively in the first half
Before the international break, Dortmund parted ways with sports director Sebastian Kehl after their furious comeback to a narrow 3-2 win against Hamburger SV. Successor Ole Book had to watch in the MHP Arena as there was almost nothing to be seen from the guests on the offensive with former Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy. In defense, former Stuttgart defender Waldemar Anton’s ball actions were met with loud whistles from the VfB fans.
After the break, VfB remained the team that came closer to the goal. Ten minutes after the break, Lorenz Assignon could have given the Swabians the lead. But the right-back didn’t use the opportunity decisively enough to take the shot quite alone in the penalty area and was denied by Kobel (55′). The BVB goalkeeper did not have to intervene with long-range shots from Stiller and Jamie Leweling. He was powerless when Adeyemi and Brandt conceded late goals.
Emotions at the boiling point: verbal battles after a big game
After Borussia Dortmund’s furious end and late 2-0 win at VfB Stuttgart, emotions ran high. The coaches Niko Kovac and Sebastian Hoeneß also had a little war of words after the final whistle of the top game in the Bundesliga.
“This is now a duel that contains a lot of emotions. These were almost always extremely heated games,” explained VfB coach Hoeneß. “Of course that came out in the scenes at the end. We then discussed it very briefly,” he said on Sky. Hoeneß kept to himself what exactly the battle of words was about. “It’s nobody’s business, at least in my opinion,” explained the 43-year-old. His coaching colleague Kovac said on Sky that there had been “a small difference of opinion”.
Guests cheering in front of the Stuttgart curve provokes the home fans
The Stuttgart team dominated the game, but were not efficient on offense. Only with a double strike in stoppage time did BVB jokers Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt decide the duel in favor of the previously disappointing Dortmund (90+4 and 90+6).
The guests played for the goal in front of the Cannstatter Kurve in the second half and cheered in front of the VfB supporters after their goals. A number of fans felt provoked by this and it became turbulent. Supporters climbed over the barrier into the interior. A chair flew onto the grass and a pack formed between the VfB and BVB professionals.
Hoeneß critical: “I didn’t like the pictures”
Hoeneß described players and fans as having the feeling that “we were celebrating for too long in our corner.” “It’s not my opinion, I just want to describe what triggered it.” The course of the game probably contributed to this. “Nevertheless, I have to say clearly that I didn’t like the pictures,” Hoeneß clarified critically. “It was so loud, it was so crackling in the stadium. That’s actually what has to be left behind. Not the pictures that there were at the end. I can’t support that,” said Hoeneß.
Decision in the next few weeks: Schlotterbeck comments on contract poker
National soccer player Nico Schlotterbeck believes an early decision in contract poker with Borussia Dortmund is possible. The defender said he had “a good conversation” with managing director Lars Ricken and the new sports director Ole Book on the pay TV channel Sky after BVB’s 2-0 (0-0) win at VfB Stuttgart.
“I think we’ll continue these discussions this week and then I think it won’t be long before I make a decision,” said the 26-year-old. “But of course, I’ve said it all along: I can imagine staying here. Nevertheless, all conversations have to work. Now we hope that we have good ones this week, and then we’ll see how things go.”
Even before the kick-off of the Bundesliga’s top game, Ricken reported that he had spoken to Schlotterbeck about his future immediately after the national team’s international matches. The central defender’s contract with BVB runs until 2027, but his future has been an issue for some time.
“We sat down directly, without consultants,” said Ricken on the pay TV channel Sky. “The relationship of trust between Nico and the club is 100 percent there.” Ricken did not want to quantify how likely there was to be an extension.
After the DFB team’s 2-1 win against Ghana on Monday, Schlotterbeck vigorously contradicted media reports about an imminent contract extension. “I have to clearly deny that, unfortunately we are not that far,” said the 26-year-old.
Ricken also announced that the next goal would be as soon as possible: “We won’t wait weeks again until we make the next appointment,” he said. Ricken emphasized immediately after the 2-1 win against Ghana that nothing had changed in terms of the basic attitude of tying the defender to BVB in the long term.
Schlotterbeck had also said that he would probably have made a decision in the next few weeks, “but now the situation has changed a bit – unfortunately we are not yet at the stage where something is imminent,” he explained, referring to Dortmund’s separation from sports director Sebastian Kehl, who was replaced by Ole Book.
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STUTTGART (dpa-AFX)
