Defensive lapses cost Stuttgart in narrow first-leg defeat to Porto

VfB Stuttgart have it all to do ahead of their trip to Portugal next Thursday after tonight's 2-1 defeat to FC Porto. Terem Moffi and Rodrigo Mora struck to give the visitors a vital first-leg win in their last-16 Europa League clash to take back to the Estádio do Dragão. 

Stuttgart applied ample pressure in the initial 15-minute period as the hosts came under a barrage of attacks down the flanks. Jamie Leweling looked particularly threatening with his speed and willingness to get forward which caused Porto some bother. 

The winger forced Diogo Costa into his first save of the night on 17 minutes after more speculative efforts from Bilal El Khannouss and Ermedin Demirovic. Suddenly, momentum swung in favour of Porto who hit the crossbar and showed their ruthless nature soon after. 

Although William Gomes would be denied, Terem Moffi had other plans, picking off Nübel's ball to play a one-two with Borja Sainz and curl it into the right corner for 1-0 on 21 minutes. Stuttgart were visibly rattled by the goal which came against the run of play.

One became two before the half-hour when Chabot was guilty on this occasion. Zaidu took full advantage to pick out Rodrigo Mora for a simple tap-in, but Stuttgart would respond before the break through a wonderful Deniz Undav volley. 

As soon as the second-half started, Porto went into game management mode. The clock was being managed expertly by the Portuguese side, taking any available opportunity to slow down the game's speed on opposition soil. 

Zaidu could have extended the visitor's lead near the hour, but his goal-bound header was well held by Nübel. Both sides introduced subs with around 25 minutes remaining - Porto called upon Pepê and Deniz Gül, while Hoeneß swapped in Tiago Tomas and Führich.

Agonisingly for the Swabians, they appeared to pull level on 72 minutes when Angelo Stiller bundled in a rebound from Chabot's headed effort. Sadly, the midfielder's celebrations were cut short by a VAR review spotting an offside

Führich did his best to inject life into the hosts but they found the going tough as time ticked on. Bilal El Khannouss also found some space near full-time but Diogo Costa was on hand to keep him at bay. The loss leaves Stuttgart with work to do in Portugal next week.