Thanks to the magic of Dominik Szoboszlai, RB Leipzig have increased the pressure on Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.
Leipzig beat Stuttgart – and put pressure on Bayern

Thanks to the magic of Dominik Szoboszlai, RB Leipzig have increased the pressure on Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.

The technically gifted Hungarian scored a brace to lead the DFB Cup winners to a deserved 2-1 (1-0) victory over VfB Stuttgart at the start of the second leg on Friday. The win brought the Saxons (35 points) to within one point of the record champions, at least for one night.

Szoboszlai secured the important victory for coach Marco Rose’s team, which is now 16 games unbeaten in a row, with a great free-kick goal from 30 metres (25th) and a powerful shot from the edge of the box (49th). Chris Führich (68th, hand penalty after video evidence) reduced the score for VfB. Bayern could restore the old four-point gap to RB in the top match against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday (18.30/Sky).

VfB, on the other hand, remained without a win in their third game under new coach Bruno Labbadia (two draws and one defeat) and are still stuck in the relegation battle in 15th place with 16 points.

The visitors played courageously right from the start, despite the fact that five of their regular players had been injured or suspended over the past few days and Labbadia had to completely reorganise his attacking front three.

While RB hardly got through with their possession football at the start, Stuttgart stood firm and lurked on the counterattack. Captain Wataru Endo intercepted a sloppy pass from RB defender Willi Orban to Xaver Schlager and immediately sent starting debutant Thomas Kastanaras (9th) deep. From the edge of the penalty area, the 20-year-old failed to beat Leipzig goalkeeper Janis Blaswich. RB did not become more forceful and playful until the middle of the first half.

A lot went through international David Raum, who started for Marcel Halstenberg on the left side of defence and almost set up centre-forward Andre Silva (23rd) for the opening goal – the Portuguese’s header flew over the goal. Szoboszlai was more accurate when he took his shot from 30 metres after a foul on Dani Olmo. His fluttering free-kick hit the bottom left and left VfB goalkeeper Florian Müller, who still had a slight touch on the ball, looking very unfortunate. A little later, Silva (32nd) headed – again after a cross from Raum – at the far left post.

After the break, Nikolas Nartey (46th) suddenly appeared free in front of Blaswich, but shot just wide. RB was hardly shocked after the near equaliser, but played courageously forward. Silva headed an attempted clearance by VfB pro Josha Vagnoman to Szoboszlai, who plucked the ball out of the air and into the net. VfB were to find a way back into the game when Josko Gvardiol’s hand was caught by the ball after a Nartey cross. After viewing the video footage, referee Felix Zwayer awarded a penalty, and Führich converted safely.

The technically gifted Hungarian scored a brace to lead the DFB Cup winners to a deserved 2-1 (1-0) victory over VfB Stuttgart at the start of the second leg on Friday. The win brought the Saxons (35 points) to within one point of the record champions, at least for one night.

Szoboszlai secured the important victory for coach Marco Rose’s team, which is now 16 games unbeaten in a row, with a great free-kick goal from 30 metres (25th) and a powerful shot from the edge of the box (49th). Chris Führich (68th, hand penalty after video evidence) reduced the score for VfB. Bayern could restore the old four-point gap to RB in the top match against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday (18.30/Sky).

VfB, on the other hand, remained without a win in their third game under new coach Bruno Labbadia (two draws and one defeat) and are still stuck in the relegation battle in 15th place with 16 points.

The visitors played courageously right from the start, despite the fact that five of their regular players had been injured or suspended over the past few days and Labbadia had to completely reorganise his attacking front three.

While RB hardly got through with their possession football at the start, Stuttgart stood firm and lurked on the counterattack. Captain Wataru Endo intercepted a sloppy pass from RB defender Willi Orban to Xaver Schlager and immediately sent starting debutant Thomas Kastanaras (9th) deep. From the edge of the penalty area, the 20-year-old failed to beat Leipzig goalkeeper Janis Blaswich. RB did not become more forceful and playful until the middle of the first half.

A lot went through international David Raum, who started for Marcel Halstenberg on the left side of defence and almost set up centre-forward Andre Silva (23rd) for the opening goal – the Portuguese’s header flew over the goal. Szoboszlai was more accurate when he took his shot from 30 metres after a foul on Dani Olmo. His fluttering free-kick hit the bottom left and left VfB goalkeeper Florian Müller, who still had a slight touch on the ball, looking very unfortunate. A little later, Silva (32nd) headed – again after a cross from Raum – at the far left post.

After the break, Nikolas Nartey (46th) suddenly appeared free in front of Blaswich, but shot just wide. RB was hardly shocked after the near equaliser, but played courageously forward. Silva headed an attempted clearance by VfB pro Josha Vagnoman to Szoboszlai, who plucked the ball out of the air and into the net. VfB were to find a way back into the game when Josko Gvardiol’s hand was caught by the ball after a Nartey cross. After viewing the video footage, referee Felix Zwayer awarded a penalty, and Führich converted safely.