Bayer 04 Leverkusen
| 1-1 | Kießling | (26. Min) |
| 2-1 | Derdiyok | (84. Min) |
VfB Stuttgart
| 0-1 | Leitner | (12. Min) |
Emir Spahic
Stats 
Leitner opened the scoring with his first Bundesliga goal.
Lead, but no luck
In their third game in eight days, VfB once again took the lead but in the end were again left empty handed. Moritz Leitner had put Thomas Schneider’s side in front, but the hosts from Leverkusen turned the tie to make it 2-1 for Bayer.
The VfB coach sent out the same eleven that began against FC Bayern in midweek. Early in the game, the hosts had the bulk of the possession but genuine openings were few and far between – until Moritz Leitner suddenly stunned the home side. Bayer keeper Bernd Leno punched clear from a Konstantin Rausch corner and Leitner picked up the pieces just outside the box and curled a stunning shot into the top left corner of the net to put VfB in the driving seat (12’).
Stefan Kießling levels
With VfB in good form, the defeat from Wednesday appeared to be well and truly behind them and confidence was up. Schneider’s men moved the ball around well and looked completely stable, until Stefan Kießling struck in the 26th minute. Inconsistency and a poor loss of possession were to prove costly, as the striker pounced to level the scores and put his side back in the game.
The conceded goal had a clear effect on Schneider’s men, who became increasingly passive and created little by the way of a threat for the hosts. Before the break, Heung-Min Son cracked a shot against the angle of the goal-frame (34‘) and then Sven Ulreich was forced into action to deny the South Korean (40‘).
At the other end, Vedad Ibisevic forced a good save from Bernd Leno but having dropped off noticeably having lost the lead, VfB could consider themselves satisfied with the score-line at 1-1 going into the break.
Another late strike sinks Stuttgart
There was little tempo in the game immediately after the re-start. Leverkusen dominated the proceedings but never really looked threatening in front of the VfB goal. With just over an hour on the clock, Sven Ulreich was called upon and answered with an excellent reflex save to deny the home side the lead – although an offside decision would have cancelled out the headed effort had it found the net. Thomas Schneider introduced Alexandru Maxim to add more direction to the attack and then Ibrahima Traoré as a pacy option on the wing, but neither side could find a way through – until late in the game.
Quote for the game
Fredi Bobic: "It was an unbelievable week from a negative viewpoint" Post match comments
With just six minutes to go, a long ball delivered to the back post found Eren Derdiyok, who headed home from close range to make it 2-1 for Leverkusen. Vedad Ibisevic had a late chance to level the scores again, but fired high over the target and as a last gasp volleyed effort from Cacau failed to find the target, VfB were left staring at yet another 1-2 defeat.
