VfL Bochum has suffered its first defeat under Dieter Hecking. The club lost 2-0 to VfB Stuttgart.

After the respectable result against the champions, VfL Bochum suffered their first setback in the second game under coach Dieter Hecking. VfL deservedly lost 0-2 (0-0) at VfB Stuttgart and, with only two meager points, remain stuck in the Bundesliga basement.

For the VfB, who had only won one of their last six league games, it was the hoped-for success at the start of the hot finish to the year. The eye-catching Chris Führich scored the opening goal in front of 59,000 spectators in the 53rd minute. Justin Diehl, who had only been substituted a few seconds earlier, scored the second goal with his first in the Bundesliga (78′).

Sebastian Hoeneß’ team will be in action again in the Champions League on Wednesday (6:45 p.m./DAZN) against Red Star Belgrade. In the league, the runners-up managed to catch up with the international places. VfL, who last won in Stuttgart 37 years ago, remain bottom after their ninth defeat of the season. The most recent 1-1 draw against Leverkusen had raised hopes of a turnaround.

Hoeneß was without Deniz Undav, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Jamie Leweling and El Bilal Toure through injury. Angelo Stiller and Anrie Chase, who had both been out with injuries, were on the bench. “It’s about making the best of the situation,” said Hoeneß on Sky before the game. At the same time, he warned against VfL: the team “is coming back to life”.

At first, VfB was clearly superior against a VfL that was playing very defensively and fielding the same team that had faced Leverkusen. Stuttgart was unlucky twice in the opening stages: first, a cross from Maximilian Mittelstädt brushed the Bochum crossbar (6′), then Jeff Chabot’s header crashed against the crossbar (16′). Josha Vagnoman, who was in a free-scoring position, also failed to hit the target properly (12).

After the strong opening phase, Stuttgart remained in the ascendancy but rarely created any dangerous chances. It was only when Führich shot (37) that things got a little tense. On the other side, Hecking had called for courage from his team. However, there was little sign of this in the first half.