Führich misses penalty
The boys from Cannstatt refused to give Dortmund any time on the ball in the first half, as they went on the front foot and enjoyed more possession. They also created numerous goalscoring opportunities, but were too casual in finishing them off. VfB could have taken the lead in the 11th minute when Gregor Kobel brought down Denis Undav inside the area, but the Dortmund goalkeeper saved Chris Führich’s penalty.
Two goals before the break
Stuttgart remained the better team even after that, but fell behind in the 36th minute to Niclas Füllkrug’s strike. VfB soon restored parity, though, with Jamie Leweling threading a lovely ball through to Undav, who poked in the equaliser (42’).
Sebastian Hoeneß’s men continued to dominate after the interlude, playing with pace and pressure, and should have taken the lead in the 54th minute, only for Führich to miss the target. At the other end of the pitch, VfB rode their luck in the 62nd minute when Dan-Axel Zagadou deflected the ball onto his own post.
Guirassy to the rescue
In the 83rd minute, substitute Serhou Guirassy converted from the penalty spot to spark wild celebrations and give VfB a deserved victory.
Goals
36th minute: Julian Ryerson’s pass finds its way to Füllkrug, who finishes from close range to give Dortmund the lead against the run of play.
42nd minute: Leweling slides the ball through to Undav, who deservedly brings VfB level.
82nd minute: Kobel fouls Silas inside the box and Guirassy confidently scores the winner from the spot.
Reaction
Sebastian Hoeneß, VfB head coach: “We wanted to go at it right from the off and put them under pressure. We managed to do that well, and we created chances. The way we reacted to missing the penalty and going a goal down was fantastic, it made me proud. The team reacted superbly. We want to push ourselves to our limit, and we did so. We wanted to get a good result here – and we did that too, so we’re happy.”