VfB Stuttgart
Lazio Rom
| 0-1 | Ederson | (21. Min) |
| 0-2 | Onazi | (56. Min) |
Anderson Hernanes
Stats 
Alexandru Maxim in action during the game.
Home defeat to Lazio
Following a good start to their first leg clash with Lazio Rome in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, VfB were eventually left to deal with a 0-2 (0-1) home defeat.
Compared to the side that began against Leverkusen at the weekend, Bruno Labbadia made three changes to his starting eleven. Federico Macheda replaced the suspended Vedad Ibisevic, whilst Alexandru Maxim and Shinji Okazaki also made the team in place of Raphael Holzhauser and Martin Harnik.
Right from the kick-off, VfB took control of the tie and were fired on from a crowd of 28,750 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Taking on a long ball from Serdar Tasci, Christian Gentner laid square for Ibrahima Traoré, who was unable to turn his shot home (9’).
Out of the blue
Following a clever throw-in from Gotoku Sakai, Gentner was again involved, playing the ball into the penalty area, where Shinji Okazaki tried his luck with a powerful header, but Lazio keeper Federico Marchetti reacted well to deny VfB (16’).
With VfB in control of proceedings, Lazio struck and duly took the lead. From a cross to the centre, the home side were unable to clear the ball, which somewhat unfortunately fell to Ederson, who turned quickly and fired into the near corner to give the visitors a 1-0 (21’) lead going into the break.
Lazio increase their advantage
In the 55th minute, Martin Harnik was brought in to replace William Kvist, as VfB moved to bolster their attack, but the Austrian had only just taken to the pitch when VfB suddenly found themselves two goals down.
VfB head-coach Bruno Labbadia: "We were treated to a display of what cleverness and experience is all about in a team." Post match comments
Ogenyi Onazi won the ball in the centre of the park and drove through the VfB half before leaving Sven Ulreich without a chance to double his side’s advantage (56’). Just three minutes later, the visitors went close again with an effort from a free-kick.
Bruno Labbadia’s men continued to press and Shinji Okazaki made a break into the Rome penalty area, but was unable to complete the move (63’). Lazio keeper Federico Marchetti was forced to go full stretch in order to deny Tamas Hajnal and turn the ball away for a corner (67’). In spite of all their efforts, VfB were unable to turn the tie and in the end were left to deal with a 0-2 defeat.
