VfB Stuttgart remains unbeaten under coach Sebastian Hoeneß thanks to a poke goal from captain Wataru Endo, earning the next valuable point in the Bundesliga relegation battle.
The five-time German champions woke up late in the Swabian derby in Augsburg, but Endo’s goal (78th) secured the lucky 1-1 (0-1) and also leaves FCA shaking.
Winter addition Dion Beljo (8th) had given the superior Augsburg team the lead with his second goal of the season. However, the home side’s sixth win in a row on a Friday evening came to nothing as VfB rediscovered its greed from the first three matches with Hoeneß. This weekend, however, VfB still faces the threat of falling to 17th place.
FCA, which continues to have a five-point cushion on its neighbors, will probably be missing full-back Iago in the final spurt, who had to be substituted with an injury to his right thigh (33rd). Striker Beljo also remained in the dressing room after the break with an injury.
Augsburg has the best chance exploitation in the league – and also this time the first ball on goal was in. Beljo headed in unchallenged after a cross from Arne Maier on the five-yard line.
In addition to captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw (suspended) and Rafal Gikiewicz, coach Enrico Maaßen had to replace Mergim Berisha (both injured), a key player in the attack. Instead, Ermedin Demirovic came back in after a three-game suspension and exemplified what Hoeneß had warned against: Augsburg would attack with “sharpness and physicality.”
According to the VfB coach, “we first have to balance that out” – and then “stab”. But the guests found it very difficult to play forward. After an FCA mistake in the build-up, Chris Führich (12th) forced goalkeeper Tomas Koubek into a first save – the only one in half one.
Stuttgart had to do without the suspended Konstantinos Mavropanos, its best defender, and was vulnerable. Substitute Hiroki Ito kept too much distance from Maier’s cross before 0:1 and saw his fifth yellow card early on (20.). He will miss against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Teammate Borna Sosa missed a free kick from a promising position (31st).
Hoeneß reacted to his team’s offensive weakness and brought on attackers Silas and Tanguy Coulibaly at the restart. It changed little, only the next wild card Tiago Tomas helped: His entry Endo pushed over the line in the second attempt.
