Just as they did in the league, Dortmund lose to VfB in the cup. The runners-up make too many mistakes and are punished. The first title is gone. First Guirassy scores again, then Silas.

Probably Borussia Dortmund’s biggest chance of winning a title this season is gone. BVB were knocked out of the DFB Cup in the round of 16 after a deserved 2-0 (0-0) defeat at VfB Stuttgart, who continue to perform surprisingly well, on Wednesday.

Top striker Serhou Guirassy (54th minute) and substitute Silas (77th minute) scored in front of 54,200 spectators for the Swabians, who celebrated their fourth competitive win in a row and will take a lot of confidence into the upcoming league clash with Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday.

For Dortmund, who disappointed for long spells and are already ten points behind league leaders Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, Saturday’s game against RB Leipzig is a must-win encounter in the battle for a Champions League place.

BVB countered Stuttgart’s double threat of Guirassy and Deniz Undav with a back three in which captain Emre Can defended on the right. Unlike in the 2-1 league defeat three and a half weeks ago, in which they played miserably, the guests managed to largely prevent Stuttgart from creating any big chances, at least for a while. The best chance for VfB, who were dominant but rarely effective, was missed by Undav with a header in the first half (24′). Shortly before half-time, Dortmund’s Jamie Bynoe-Gittens was not punished for losing the ball.

Speaking of losing possession: the runners-up conceded far too many of them in front of national team coach Julian Nagelsmann. As a result, BVB hardly got their fast offensive players into the game. Marcel Sabitzer was unlucky to see his shot hit the bar (20th minute), but otherwise Borussia didn’t create many chances going forward.

Three days after the 1-1 draw in Leverkusen, former captain Marco Reus, Julian Brandt and Niclas Füllkrug had to take a seat on the bench. Füllkrug replaced the injured Youssoufa Moukoko in the 24th minute, but hardly received any usable crosses in the center forward position.

BVB coach Edin Terzic reacted and brought Brandt on for the second half, who was supposed to provide more relief in offense. In addition, Ramy Bensebaini came on for wing-back Marius Wolf, who twisted his ankle in the first half. However, Stuttgart remained the dominant team. In the 51st minute, Guirassy, unmarked from close range, was denied by Stuttgart keeper Gregor Kobel.

Shortly afterwards, the Swiss shot-stopper was powerless to stop Guinea’s national striker, who shot through his legs. It was Guirassy’s 18th competitive goal of the season. He had scored the decisive goal from the penalty spot in the league clash.

VfB almost doubled their lead immediately, but Kobel made another excellent save to keep out Enzo Millot (58). On the opposite side, Bynoe-Gittens’s apparent equalizer was rightly ruled out for offside (60). There was no longer a major final offensive from Borussia, but instead the second goal for Stuttgart: substitute Silas pushed the ball deliberately into the right corner.