Brighton
Man City
Udinese
Roma
Heerenveen
PSV Eindhoven
Go Ahead
Feyenoord
VfB play, BVB score
The game got off to a lively start with both teams going for it and looking to attack. There was a chance apiece in the opening 10 minutes, but Josha Vagnoman couldn’t keep his shot down and then Fabian Bredlow made a good save from Sebastien Haller. The Cannstatt boys remained on the front foot and matched their second-placed opponents with both their play and battling qualities.
However, in the 26th minute Dortmund took the lead against the run of play, when Haller turned in Donyell Malen’s cross. Serhou Guirassy could have equalised shortly after but was denied by Gregor Kobel at close range. Instead, the visitors struck again in clinical fashion, Malen getting on the scoresheet himself with a shot from the edge of the area in the 33rd minute. Stuttgart were left with an even bigger mountain to climb five minutes before half-time when Konstantinos Mavropanos was sent off for a second booking.
Great performance with 10 men
Even with a man down, VfB didn’t let their heads drop. Just after Jude Bellingham hit the bar, the Swabians were celebrating when Guirassy lifted the ball over Kobel into the net, but VAR ruled it out for offside. BVB gained more control of the game after that but Sebastian Hoeneß’ men remained a threat on the counter. Silas fired over in the 67th minute, before BVB struck the woodwork again through Marco Reus’ free-kick.
There was a lot more action to come, though. Just a minute later, Tanguy Coulibaly got Stuttgart back into the game with a deflected shot. Pushed on by their loud fans, the tireless hosts kept fighting and equalised on 84 minutes when Vagnoman, who missed a chance a few minutes earlier, bundled the ball in from a corner. VfB looked to be holding on for the point in the closing minutes only for the Black and Yellows to regain the lead through Giovanni Reyna. But even that goal didn’t settle the contest. VfB threw everything forward one last time – and Silas found the net in true centre-forward fashion in the 97th minute to make it 3-3. Incredible!
The goals:
26th minute (0-1): Haller meets Malen’s cross to score the opener from close range.
33th minute (0-2): VfB fail to clear a corner properly and Malen finds the net from the edge of the area.
78th minute (1-2): Coulibaly cuts inside with a stepover and goes for goal. The ball takes a deflection on its way in.
84th minute (2-2): Borna Sosa’s corner causes chaos in the Dortmund box before Vagnoman smashes it in. 2-2!
90+2nd minute (2-3): Reyna fires in to make it 3-2 to Dortmund.
90+7th minute (3-3): Silas has the final say as VfB equalise again!
Reaction:
Sebastian Hoeneß: “It looked hopeless for a short time after the sending off, but it was important that we remained clear and in our shape. We also defended smarter in the end. After Tanguy’s goal to make it 2-1, if not before, a momentum developed. To concede again after equalising was brutal. It says a huge amount about the team that they then came back again. The atmosphere with our fans was equally incredible.”
