It was the 83rd minute in Stuttgart – and Borna Sosa appeared, again. VfB’s Croatian full-back ran up and down the sidelines so often on Saturday evening that he would have been credited with the Olympic standard as a 10,000-meter sprinter, possibly also with hurdles that would probably pose no more obstacles for the Croatian than Gladbacher.
However, the arena in Cannstatt no longer has a tartan track, which is why Sosa will run on the grass for the time being, just like in the 83rd minute when he again rounded two too timid Gladbach players. Just before the third or the goal line could get in his way, Sosa then played a low ball behind Gladbach, where Sasa Kalajdzic was ready and shot the ball into the right corner to make it 3-2 and thus VfB Stuttgart to come back in the relegation battle .
“We’ve had so many unfortunate situations this season, we’re just very happy now,” said Sosa shortly afterwards into the stadium microphone. The Stuttgarters had narrowly lost three of the last four games due to late goals without having played badly. Whether bad luck or a lack of chances or both were responsible for 17th place in the table as a starting point before the game against Gladbach is an open question – it was clear from the table that VfB would have lost the connection completely in the event of a defeat.
The 0:2 comes as a surprise, but VfB is undeterred
The first few minutes were correspondingly nervous, but on both sides – then VfB came in better. The Swabians kept playing down the flanks, Sosa put Stuttgart overweight on the left against the overwhelmed Joe Scally, and his coach Pellegrino Matarazzo later said it was a “huge game”. Alone: In the 10th minute, Sosa should have hung up from an acute angle, Tiago Tomas should have finished shortly afterwards, then an early lead would have been possible.
Instead, Gladbach made it 1-0 with the first orderly offensive action: Alassane Plea dribbled in the direction of the penalty area, played across to Florian Neuhaus, whose chip ball, which is well worth seeing, found exactly the gap between the Stuttgart central defenders: Plea ran through and scored a volley. A goal that proved that Gladbach theoretically had footballing potential for a European competition – but such attacks remained the exception, which is why Sandhausen currently seems closer than Madrid.
Great relief after the end of the game: sports director Sven Mislintat (left) with Borna Sosa.
(Photo: Michael Weber/Imago)
The game was controlled even after VfB conceded, who kept winning the ball in midfield and so didn’t allow Gladbach to flow the game. Sasa Kalajdzic could have equalized with a header in the 24th minute, but then the pattern from the initial phase repeated itself: Gladbach got more space to dribble in midfield for the first time since the 1-0 lead, Jonas Hofmann put his flat on Plea The incoming Marcus Thuram converted the cross at the far post (35th). The 2-0 came as a surprise, but once again VfB didn’t let itself be deterred. A poor clearance from Rami Bensebaini fell at the feet of Stuttgart captain Wataru Endo three minutes later, who scored the deserved goal from close range.
Stuttgart’s energy increased again after half-time. The 2:2 was then the goal of a team fighting relegation and accepted it for the moment: Tiago Tomas’ cross cleared Matthias Ginter, Kalajdzic’s shot blocked Bensebaini, but the ball stayed in the Gladbach penalty area: Chris Führich was at the far post ready and headed into the goal. “Stuttgart made us lose the game with this passion and emotion today,” said Gladbach coach Adi Hütter after the game, his own team lacked these elements.
VfB continues to play boldly forward and keeps creating chances
Stuttgart’s deserved equalizer was followed by a period of rest that lasted until the 67th minute, when Tomas shot Sommer from close range and thus missed the biggest chance of the game so far. Gladbach only got a shot from Neuhaus four minutes later, which goalkeeper Müller was able to save – it was the only chance for the guests in the second half. Above all, however, it was the defensive vulnerability that concerned coach Adi Hütter after the game: “That’s what concerns us most these days. We have players on the pitch who can defend better. We lead 2-0 and get three goals again, which is very disappointing.”
Instead, VfB continued to play courageously and created opportunities again and again, which, however, were missed in such a way that the Swabian audience was almost inclined to recall the ghosts of the past games. This time, however, the story went for and not against Stuttgart. The 25,000 in the Mercedes-Benz Arena, who celebrated extensively with the players after the game, were correspondingly euphoric. It almost seemed like a joint resurrection of a team that had recently been written off.
“It can do something to a team when you turn a game around like that,” said coach Matarazzo after the game, but then calmed down again by pointing out that there were only three points and that you were still on the penultimate Place in the table: “It feels good. But that was only the first of ten chapters.”