10-man Leverkusen overcome Stuttgart on penalties to claim Supercup glory
In a match that saw Martin Terrier sent off in the first half, German double winners Bayer Leverkusen beat VfB Stuttgart on penalties in the DFL-Supercup at BayArena on Saturday night.
Everything began according to plan for Leverkusen, who started with star players Florian Wirtz, Alejandro Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong on the bench, with Victor Boniface putting them ahead in the 11th minute.
New signing Aleix Garcia's cross found Edmond Tapsoba at the far post, and the centre-back headed towards the goal line, where Victor Boniface tapped in to put the champions ahead.
But Stuttgart responded immediately and levelled just four minutes later. A superb sweeping move ended with Chris Führich's cross finding Enzo Millot, who fired the ball into the bottom corner.
The Swabians could have gone ahead midway through the first half when Ermedin Demirovic latched onto a high through-ball and hit the post.
Demirovic was in the spotlight again in the 37th minute when new Leverkusen signing Martin Terrier was shown a straight red card for a terrible challenge on the Bosnian international.
The dismissal forced Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso to make a tactical change, replacing goalscorer Victor Boniface with centre-back Jonathan Tah before the break.
It was Leverkusen who created the first real chance of the second half in the 56th minute when Amine Adli was given space in the box to turn before firing wide.
Shortly after the hour mark, Stutgart coach Sebastian Hoeness made a triple substitution, which paid off immediately as two substitutes combined to make it 2-1. Bayern loanee Felix Krätzig laid the ball on a plate for Deniz Undav to put Stuttgart ahead.
Xabi Alonso brought on the cavalry for Leverkusen in the 73rd minute, sending on Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz and Patrick Schick in an attempt to get back into the game.
Yet, Undav could have put the game out of Leverkusen's reach in the 76th minute, but a late block by Piero Hincapie denied him.
Die Werkself came close to equalising in the 80th minute after a chaotic situation in the Stuttgart penalty area. Alex Nübel kept out Patrik Schick's initial effort and the ball fell to Jeanuel Belocian. He couldn't get a shot away, and Jeremie Frimpong then fired over.
But as so many times last season, Leverkusen refused to give up and found a late equaliser in the 88th minute through Patrik Schick, who sent the game directly to penalties.
Leverkusen eventually prevailed in the penalty shootout, scoring from their first four attempts, while Felix Krätzig and Silas both missed for Stuttgart.