Stuttgart beats Leverkusen to grab UCL advantage
Stuttgart leapfrogged Bayer Leverkusen in the race for a top-four Bundesliga finish as it fought back to defeat its direct rival 3-1 at MHPArena.
The visitors made a dream start, taking the lead inside the first minute as Stuttgart lost the ball in its own half, with Christian Kofane setting up Aleix Garcia to score.
However, the home side was back on level terms within four further minutes, with intricate play on the edge of the box leading to Nikolas Nartey sliding a pass through to Ermedin Demirovic, who made no mistake with an emphatic finish.
The hosts were denied a penalty after 20 minutes following a strong challenge from Edmond Tapsoba on Angelo Stiller inside the area, while they also went close to scoring moments later as Demirovic was set up by Chris Fuhrich, and his attempt was thwarted by a fabulous block from Tapsoba.
Mark Flekken was called into action late in the first half, making a terrific one-handed save to stop a close-range effort from Demirovic, who stretched the Leverkusen backline throughout the first 45 minutes.
Demirovic won a penalty in first-half stoppage-time when he was tripped by Tapsoba, with Maximilian Mittelstadt converting after a video assistant referee (VAR) review upheld the decision.
The dangerous Demirovic continued to threaten in the second half, as he had a goal disallowed for offside.
But Stuttgart got the clinching goal in the 57th minute as Deniz Undav scored from close range, having been picked out by a brilliant cross from Jamie Leweling.
Both Stuttgart and Hoffenheim are now three points clear of Leverkusen going into the final matchday, with the three sides battling for one UEFA Champions League spot.
Leverkusen captain Robert Andrich criticised the team's character after the defeat.
"It was too little from everyone," he said. "It was a symbol of our season. As soon as it gets tight and dicey, we don't manage to stand together as a team.
"That's a thing that annoys me extremely because it's a team thing. We didn't come close to beating Stuttgart over 90 minutes.
"We have a lot of characters who do quite a lot with themselves. We have too few people standing together. I have to blame myself for a lot. I've often stood here after games like this in which we didn't get into the game. The fault must lie somewhere.
"When I look at games like today, you have to say that we don't deserve it either, we have to be that honest with ourselves. It's better than saying that we could have won here as well.
"Anything can happen. We have to win our game, and then we have to pray."
