Werkself win 2-0 at Stuttgart

"We deserved to win today even though Stuttgart had an impressive 20 minutes after the break," said sporting director Rudi Völler after the game. "The victory was very, very important for the position in the table." Kai Havertz said: "These three points are extremely good for us and give us a boost for the run of fixtures ahead. We need to build on this against Bremen on Wednesday."

Heiko Herrlich opted for three at the back against VfB. The suspended Wendell was replaced by Panos Retsos. Dominik Kohr started in place of the injured Charles Aránguiz (muscular problem). Admir Mehmedi was also in the starting line-up in preference to Benny Henrichs. Tin Jedvaj was on the subs bench for the first time after a long injury lay-off.

The 75th Bundesliga meeting between the two teams promised a lot: VfB were unbeaten at the Mercedes-Benz Arena this season (five wins, one draw) and Bayer 04 were on a run of ten games without defeat, longer than any other team in the league.

In the opening stages, both the hosts and the Werkself initially focused on being solid at the back and controlled build-up play.

Havertz converts from Bailey assist

After the opening 15 minutes, it was the Black and Reds who were on the front foot. Julian Brandt had the first decent chance of the game following a pass from Kevin Volland. Stuttgart's Holger Badstuber was able to get his foot the ball to turn it away for a corner on 17 minutes. The VfB goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler was not unduly troubled by  a deflected shot from Volland a minute later. Then came the breakthrough:  Leon Bailey beat Benjamin Pavard by the left corner flag before slotting the ball into the middle of the penalty area for Havertz to run onto it and tuck his shot into the back of the net to give the Werkself a 1-0 lead on 21 minutes. 

VfB had to make more effort up front. But Stuttgart were unable to really threaten the Leverkusen goal in spite of their increased efforts in attack. The Werkself remained solid at the back from free kicks and corners for the home side.

Herrlich made minor changes at half-time. Lars Bender moved to right back and Jonathan Tah played on the left side of defence. Retsos was replaced by Julian Baumgartlinger.

sensational saves from Leno

VfB were first out of the blocks after the restart and they upped their tempo. Lars Bender put off Simon Terodde with a last-ditch challenge on 47 minutes after a cross whipped in by Anastasios Donis. And then Leno made several sensational saves to prevent the equaliser. First, he turned a long-range effort from Emiliano Insua over the bar on 52 minutes and the Werkself number one pulled off excellent reflex saves to keep out shots from Berkay Özcan (56'), Donis (60') and Insua (61').

Bayer 04 were now under severe pressure. After the hour mark, the visitors were able to threaten the VfB goal again. A cross from Tah was headed just wide of the target by Lars Bender (66'). Then a shot from Baumgartlinger from the edge of the box failed to find the target (68'). The Werkself were now back in the game. VfB were lucky that the referee Deniz Aytekin only showed Santiago Ascacibar a yellow card for a poor challenge on Brandt (71'). After the game, Rudi Völler said: "Wendell was shown a red card for a similar foul on Gonzalo Castro last week." 

Lars Bender seals win

The next great chance for Bayer 04 soon followed: Zieler just managed to tip a shot from Henrichs round the post on 73 minutes. 

Shortly after that, the referee sent Herrlich to the stands because the Bayer 04 coach had thrown a water bottle down after Havertz was shown a yellow card on 76 minutes. Four minutes later, the boss was able to see his team double the lead. Lars Bender rose highest to head home a Bailey cross to give Bayer 04 a 2-0 lead on 80 minutes. VfB had a chance through Özcan  a minute later but Leno was once again able to make the save.

Dominik Kohr could have made it 3-0 in the closing minutes but he put the ball wide of the goal after some great work from Karim Bellarabi (85'). 

The Werkself are back in action in the Bundesliga on Wednesday 13 December when Werder Bremen visit the BayArena. The match kicks off at 20.30 CET.

Match stats:

VfB Stuttgart: Zieler – Baumgartl, Badstuber, Kaminski (Akolo 68')– Pavard, Insua - Gentner (Mangala 73'), Ascacibar -, Donis, Berkay Özcan (Asano 85') - Terodde

Bayer 04: Leno – Tah, S. Bender, Retsos (Baumgartlinger 46')– Mehmedi (Henrichs 61'), Kohr, L. Bender, Bailey – Havertz, Volland, Brandt (Bellarabi 72')

Goals: 0-1 Havertz (21'), 0-2 Lars Bender (80')

Referee: Deniz Aytekin (Oberasbach)

Booked: Ascacibar - Havertz

Attendance: 54,000