Eintracht Frankfurt
| 1-0 | Aigner | (17. Min) |
VfB Stuttgart
| 1-1 | Ibisevic | (49. Min) |
| 1-2 | Niedermeier | (71. Min) |
Cristian Molinaro
Stats 
Alexandru Maxim
Hard fought battle, narrow win
Finally! In what proved to be an extremely intensive tie, a committed VfB performance saw the Stuttgart side beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1. Vedad Ibisevic’s converted penalty and a Georg Niedermeier header saw VfB turn around a 0-1 half-time deficit.
With William Kvist, Arthur Boka and Ibrahima Traoré back in the starting eleven, Bruno Labbadia made three changes to the side that began in Rome. In a 4-3-3 system, the Ivory Coast international Boka made his first start in VfB’s attacking midfield trio alongside Christian Gentner. Flu had forced Martin Harnik out of the reckoning.
Frankfurt take the lead
The first chance of the game fell to Vedad Ibisevic, who headed wide of the mark in the 16th minute. Just a minute later, Eintracht Frankfurt managed to create their first opening of the game, which promptly led to the hosts taking the lead. A pass slotted through from the midfield found Stefan Aigner, who kept his cool to slot past Sven Ulreich and leave the VfB keeper without any hope of preventing his side from going behind.
Stefano Celozzi (27’) and then Vedad Ibisevic (42’) both tried their luck, but with neither finding the target, Eintracht Frankfurt took their 1-0 advantage into the half-time break.
VfB turn the tie
VfB came out after the break with all guns blazing and with just three minutes played, Arthur Boka broke in the Frankfurt box but was felled by Stefano Celozzi. The resulting penalty was coolly tucked away by Vedad Ibisevic, to put his side back on level terms (49’).
VfB head-coach Bruno Labbadia: "That was a very important win for us." Post match comments
It took until the 67th minute before the 50,600 strong crowd were treated to the next shot on goal, but Takashi Inui’s effort proved off the mark. Alexandru Maxim was introduced to replace Shinji Okazaki and, just minutes after his substitution, the young midfielder delivered a corner, which Georg Niedermeier rose to meet in the centre and head the visitors into a 2-1 lead. VfB had turned the tie and the 3,000 travelling fans were in their element.
The remainder of the game was specked with hard tackling, hectic and extreme emotions, with niggly fouls playing just as significant a role as hard work. As was to be expected, Frankfurt piled the pressure on but the VfB defence stood solid. In the final minutes both Antonio Rüdiger and Federico Macheda were introduced to run down the clock. It was a massive effort but a vitally important reward, as VfB head back home with all three points in the bag.
