Five minutes before the end, Frankfurt was leading 3-0 in Stuttgart. VfB was the better team, shot on goal 25 times and even celebrated the equalizer in the 97th. But then the VAR spoke up.
They seemed to have reached their destination and their furious catch-up was rewarded. Deep into stoppage time, Stuttgart’s Chris Führich scored to make it 3-3. “I’ve never experienced a moment like that before, and I’m so happy,” said VfB coach Sebastian Hoeneß and now fears consequences for the mood in the team after the final goal was disallowed: “It would have been deserved. It was a feat of strength. This point would have been very important for morale. But that’s how football can be. It’s brutal today.”
Instead, shortly afterwards the professionals from Eintracht Frankfurt stormed towards their enthusiastic fans, Hoeneß collapsed in his coaching chair and clapped his hands over his head. After narrowly missing out on catching up, the Stuttgart team lost 2:3 (0:1) against third-placed Hesse in front of their home crowd in a dramatic final phase. “If you were 3-0 up here and didn’t win in the end, that would have been very, very annoying,” said Frankfurt keeper Kevin Trapp on the streaming service DAZN.
Until five minutes before the end, the guests were three goals ahead. Then VfB started to catch up and even made it 3:3. But Führich’s goal (90th + 7) was not recognized by the VAR due to an offside position. “I think we threw everything we had into it,” emphasized VfB professional Maximilian Mittelstädt and said after the defeat: “It’s extremely bitter. Everyone freaked out, all the dams were broken. And then it doesn’t count. This is extremely bitter.”
But despite all the joy after the final whistle, criticism was also heard on the other side: “It’s not possible for us to stop playing football after 3-0,” said Trapp, who scored a penalty from Ermedin Demirovic (21st) in the early stages .) had parried. The VfB attacker had also hit the crossbar shortly beforehand. “That was more than bitter. I don’t even know what to say. I just feel emptiness. We had chances after chances. I hit the crossbar twice and missed a penalty. If things go well, I’ll score a hat trick here. Craziness. “It’s extremely bitter,” said Demirovic.
Ekitiké sealed Stuttgart’s first home defeat in the league since the end of October 2023 with a header (45th) from Nathaniel Brown (56th) and Omar Marmoush (62nd). VfB’s late goals were scored by Josha Vagnoman (86th) and Nick Woltemade (90th) shortly before the end.
Although the in-form Marmoush had the first opportunity for the guests (4th), the Swabians were initially stronger in an atmospheric game. They were missing Deniz Undav for a short time.
Stuttgart’s weakness when it comes to penalties
Chris Führich took over an offensive role for Undav in front of 60,000 spectators. He was denied by Trapp (10th) and Demirovic headed the ball onto the crossbar. But an even more promising opportunity came when Hugo Larsson fouled his opponent Angelo Stiller in the penalty area. After assistant Bastian Dankert checked the video images, referee Felix Zwayer’s decision stood. But it’s just not supposed to be that point this season. Demirovic’s miss was the fourth penalty missed this season.
After half an hour, the VfB fans burst into cheers – at least for a short time. However, Jeff Chabot’s supposed opening goal was disallowed due to an offside position.
After the break, the action mostly took place between the two penalty areas. It was only after Ansgar Knauff started that things became dangerous again – and how: The 22-year-old served Brown, who had no trouble increasing, and then the once again eye-catching Marmoush scored his goal, his eleventh of the season.
With the exception of a hit on the crossbar by Demirovic (70′), VfB didn’t do enough after conceding goals until the final phase. Vagnoman then made it 1:3 before Woltemade made things really exciting again with his goal and VfB almost even managed to equalize. “We shook ourselves and almost made the stadium take off,” said Hoeneß.
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