VfB Stuttgart’s U23 team impressively demonstrated at Rot-Weiss Essen why it is one of the strongest teams in the 3. Liga.
No! VfB Stuttgart’s reserve team was not satisfied with the 1-1 draw at Rot-Weiss Essen. The Bundesliga club’s reserves were simply too strong and too dominant to end up conceding a goal so late in the game.
“It was a top, top game for us. We played it out really well and had great chances. That’s why we’re very unhappy with the 1-1 draw. We didn’t let them intimidate us and stuck to our game plan,” Mansour Ouro-Tagba told “Magenta Sport.”
The player on loan from 1. FC Köln, who had found the back of the net five times in the six games leading up to the Essen match, caused major problems for the Red-Whites. “Yes, I had my chances. As a striker, you always think you have to keep going because the next chance will come. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to score,” said the 20-year-old Togo national team player.
His coach wasn’t entirely satisfied with the draw in Essen either. Nico Willig summed it up: “I’m not happy with the 1-1 draw. We played a great away game. We kept the opponent away from our goal for 87 minutes. There were no critical situations in front of our net. That was impressive. Unfortunately, it only lasted until the 87th minute.”
The way we played has something to do with self-confidence. The crowd was very quiet, and I think that speaks in our favor.
Nico Willig
The fact that Stuttgart played with such maturity in Essen-Bergeborbeck didn’t surprise the VfB II coach at all. The fact that the Hafenstraße “cauldron” wasn’t one that Friday evening, on the other hand, did: but the visitors made sure of that.
“The way we played has something to do with confidence. The crowd was very quiet, and I think that speaks in our favor. We just needed to be a little more effective; then next time we’ll score two goals and head home as winners,” emphasized Willig, whose talented Stuttgart squad has 26 points after 17 matchdays and trails Rot-Weiss Essen by just four points.
For VfB Stuttgart II, which is now unbeaten in three games, the remaining matches this year include a home game against Hansa Rostock and then a trip to VfL Osnabrück to close out the year. It remains to be seen whether the VfB gems will also silence the Bremer Brücke.