Dinamo Moskau
| 1-1 | Kokorin | (77. Min) |
VfB Stuttgart
| 0-1 | Ibisevic | (64. Min) |
Nikita Chicherin
Stats 
Maza against Kevin Kuranyi.
VfB reach the group phase
VfB are back in Europe! The 1-1 (0-0) in the Europa League Play-Off return leg away to Dynamo Moscow was enough to put Bruno Labbadia’s side through to the group stage of the Europa League following their 2-0 home win last week. The VfB coach made two changes to the side which started in the Bundesliga opener, with Gotoku Sakai coming in at right back for Tim Hoogland and Shinji Okazaki on the left side of midfield in place of Ibrahima Traoré.
The home side had the first chance of the game, with Kevin Kuranyi trying his luck from distance after just two minutes, and continued to push forward in search of an early way back into the tie. In spite of the pressure though, the VfB defence stood solidly and left very little through.
The best opening of the half fell at the other end though in the 22nd minute. William Kvist beat his marker and played a pass to Tamas Hajnal, who instinctively forwarded the ball to Vedad Ibisevic. The striker forced his way into the Dynamo box but had his effort blocked down by a Moscow defender. The loose ball bounced in front of Shinji Okazaki, but the Japanese international’s effort was stopped by keeper Anton Shunin. As a result, the sides went into the break with the score locked at 0-0.
VfB head-coach Bruno Labbadia: “I’m really delighted for Vedad. That was a fantastic answer from him and speaks volumes for the character he possesses.” Post match comments
Ibisevic flings the door open
With just 15 second played in the second period, the balled crashed against the VfB crossbar and Labbadia’s men were very lucky not to fall behind. As the half progressed though, the game became ever more limited to the centre of the park, with attempts on goal few and far between – until the 64th minute! Tamas Hajnal played a perfectly weighted thirty-meter pass to Ibisevic, who controlled the ball expertly on his chest before hammering a left footed shot into the top of the Moscow net. The goal was to mark an almost guaranteed exit from the competition for the home side and a disappointed hush fell over the bulk of the arena, whilst the VfB fans celebrated cheerfully.
Moscow were now in need of four goals to progress to the next stage and not even the determined Kevin Kuranyi, who fired a shot narrowly wide of Sven Ulreich’s goal in the 66th minute before being substituted shortly afterwards.
Dynamo Moscow refused to throw in the towel though and managed to grab an equaliser in the 77th minute. Vladimir Granat fired in a delivery past friend and foe before finding Pavel Nekhaychick, who picked out Alexander Kokorin in the centre and the young striker beat Ulreich to make it 1-1.
Then, at 7:48pm CET, the deal was done! Turkish referee Firat Aydinus blew the final whistle and VfB had booked their place in the group stage of the Europa League. The draw will be held on Friday afternoon.
