Berlin: Leipzig returned to winning ways while Stuttgart suffered its first loss after the Red Bulls came from behind with five second-half goals at the curtain raiser of the Bundesliga second round.
The Swabians caught a bright start on the road as Chris Fuhrich’s 17-meter hammer forced Leipzig goalkeeper Janis Blaswich into action with seven minutes gone, reports Xinhua.
Leipzig dominated possession but acted idealess in front of the target whereas Stuttgart created another clearcut opportunity through Serhou Guirassy, who nodded Fuhrich’s whipped cross narrowly wide at the half-hour mark.
Guirassy remained a constant in Stuttgart’s game as the striker opened the scoring five minutes later after shrugging off Leipzig defender Mohamed Simakan before tapping past Blaswich from inside the box.
Leipzig responded well and almost levelled the scores before half-time, but Stuttgart custodian Alexander Nubel was equal to Lois Openda’s dangerous close-range effort.
The hosts restored parity six minutes into the second half when Benjamin Henrich blocked Nubel’s clearance attempt into the empty goal to flabbergast Stuttgart.
Leipzig completed its comeback at the hour mark as Dani Olmo caught Nubel flatfooted with a turn shot from inside the box into the bottom left corner.
Stuttgart couldn’t put up resistance whereas Leipzig gained momentum and made it 3-1 through Openda in the 66th minute.
Things went from bad to worse for Stuttgart as goals from Kevin Kampl and Xavi Simons helped Leipzig to round off the 5-1 victory on home soil in the closing stages.
“We played well in the first half even though we took a narrow deficit into the break. We played way better after the restart and marked five goals to secure a very well-deserved win. Big compliment to the boys,” said Leipzig coach Marco Rose.
“We staged a great performance in the first half. The second half was amiss. Leipzig brutally increased the pressure, and we couldn’t hold the pace. We still must learn,” said Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeness.
–IANS
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