The first double fixture week of 2020 brought rotation in the Black and Red team: Head coach Peter Bosz made four changes to the line-up for Saturday’s 2-1 defeat away to TSG Hoffenheim. Julian Baumgartlinger suffered a kick to the knee in Sinsheim and he was replaced by winter signing Exequiel Palacios who played alongside Kerem Demirbay in holding midfield on his debut appearance for the Werkself. Mitchell Weiser, Aleksandar Dragovic and Lucas Alario also started. Lars Bender, Jonathan Tah and Kevin Volland were on the bench along with the second winter signing Edmond Tapsoba with his first inclusion in the Bayer 04 squad. Playmaker Kai Havertz was the captain for the evening.
It was the visitors from Swabia who had the first – even though harmless – chance of the tie. Left back Philipp Förster was through on Lukas Hradecky in the opening minute but his lob went clearly over the bar. The first chance at the other end came when Karim Bellarabi hit a low cross into the box from the right. The Stuttgart keeper Fabian Bredlow was able to make the save (6'). The first murmur went through the crowd at the BayArena with a volley from Kai Havertz. The Bayer 04 skipper hit a shot from 20 yards out just wide of the VfB net (12').
And it was the playmaker who could have opened the scoring on 18 minutes – indeed almost should have. Havertz received the ball on the six- yard box from Moussa Diaby but Bredlow was able to block the shot with his foot. Stuttgart's Silas Wamangituka came closer to scoring the first goal when he hit the bar in a counter-attack. That was the first time the Werkself supporters had to breathe a sigh of relief (26').
Just after the half-hour mark, the visitors took a quick free kick and a smart combination ended up with the ball with Stuttgart captain Daniel Didavi who attempted a sideways scissor-kick a yard away from Hradecky. The Finland keeper spread himself to keep out the shot (31'). Shortly after that, Leverkusen's winter signing Palacios showed his vision for the first time and almost provided an assist on his debut for the Black and Reds: The Argentinian passed to Diaby, who left his marker stranded, before slotting the ball past the keeper Bredlow but he was offside when the pass was made (39').
Just before half-time, the goal music rang out in the Werkself stadium. The ball was put into the area for Alario and he headed it past Bredlow and Havertz stuck his foot out to turn the ball into the net from a yard out (43'). However, the celebrations of the Bayer 04 fans were interrupted by referee Steinhaus after the intervention of VAR. The goalscorer was offside and the strike was chalked off (44’). The two sides went into half-time with the score at 0-0.
Sven Bender did not reappear for the restart after receiving a knock and he was replaced in central defence by Jonathan Tah. Just three minutes later, the Germany international was almost forced to witness the first goal conceded on the night: Stuttgart's Nicolas Gonzalez broke down the left and was only prevented from scoring by Hradecky's foot (48'). That was followed at the other end by the third offside goal for the Werkself. This time it was Alario who broke away too soon (53'). The Argentinian then went close with a header that just missed the target (56') and another effort with the same part of his body was kept out by Bredlow (63').
The number of offside goals for Bayer 04 increased in the middle of the second half; Havertz made it four with his effort on 65 minutes. Diaby then made way for Nadiem Amiri (67').
The opener for the Werkself came from a set play: Demirbay sent a corner into the box from the right and the VfB keeper Bredlow attempted to punch the ball clear but was unable to make proper contact and only succeeded in turning it into his own net to give the Black and Reds a 1-0 lead (71'). The second goal for the Werkself was also unusual: Bredlow blocked a shot from Bellarabi and the ball ended up at the feet of Alario and his looping shot just ended up in the back of the net (83').
The two-goal lead did not last long. Just two minutes after the second goal, Wamangituka beat left back Daley Sinkgraven and scored from close range to make it 2-1. A frenetic end to the game followed but the Werkself did not concede again and were able to celebrate going through to the DFB Cup quarter-finals with the fans.
The draw for the quarter-finals will be held on Sunday 9 February from 18.00 CET on ARD. Bayer 04 are back in action at the BayArena on Saturday 8 February (kick-off: 18.30 CET). Borussia Dortmund are the visitors for the Bundesliga top game of the weekend.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Weiser, S. Bender (Tah 46’), Dragovic, Sinkgraven (Wendell 85’) – Demirbay, Palacios – Bellarabi, Havertz, Diaby (Amiri 67’) – Alario
VfB Stuttgart: Bredlow – Stenzel, Phillips, Castro – Massimo (Mola 58’), Mangala, Endo, Förster (Egloff 79’) – Wamangituka, Didavi (Klimowicz 67’) – Gonzalez
Goals: 1:0 Bredlow (o.g.,71'), 2-0 Alario (83’), 2-1 Wamangituka (85’)
Referee: Bibiana Steinhaus (Langenhagen)
Booked: Weiser, Hradecky – Castro
Attendance: 20,320
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