VfB Stuttgart produced a spectacular comeback from 3-0 down in front of 9,200 fans at the Sanga Stadium in Kyoto.
The goals:
21st minute: Kyoto Sanga hit the post but Rafael Elias is well placed to tap in the rebound and put the Japanese club 1-0 up.
34th minute: Marco Tulio launches an attack, gets away from Pascal Stenzel and places a shot into the bottom right-hand corner to make it 2-0 to the home side.
46th minute: Alexander Nübel is left with no chance as Taichi Hara smashes in from close range.
57th minute: Justin Diehl gets the better of the goalkeeper and pulls a goal back for VfB.
68th minute: Thomas Kastanaras does well to recover possession and then swiftly play the ball forward for Silas, who squares for Jamie Leweling to prod home.
73rd minute: A brilliant attack from VfB as Moussa Cissé crosses from the left for Kastanaras, who equalises at 3-3.
79th minute: Turnaround complete! Cissé goes alone this time and after getting forward down the left once again, the number 49 goes for goal and makes it 4-3!
90th minute: A wondergoal from Luca Raimund, who drifts into the middle from the left and buries a brilliant effort in off the underside of the crossbar. An unstoppable shot that makes it 5-3 to VfB!
Reaction:
Head coach Sebastian Hoeneß: “I would like to say a big thank you for the hospitality we’ve been shown. The conditions here were great – fantastic pitch, fantastic stadium, fantastic crowd. I’d also like to thank the opposing coach for developing Wataru Endo, and for setting his team up so well today.
“We’re not satisfied with the first half, we should have been more streetwise. Our opponents pressed hard and our legs weren’t as quick as our heads wanted them to be. We can learn a lot of lessons from that. But it makes me all the happier about the second half because the boys who came on were able to turn the game around. That was very important for us and our morale. It was a wonderful game for the fans, who created a really great atmosphere here, and there was lots of attacking action and great goals on both sides.”
