Stuttgart "danger duo" both strike as VfB ease past Bremen
Serhou Guirassy and Deniz Undav both got their name on the scoresheet Saturday evening in Stuttgart.
Sebastian Hoeneß' surprise Swabians ended up having little difficulty dispatching visiting SV Werder Bremen and collected their third consecutive league win since Guirassy's return from injury.
Sebastian Hoeneß' openly stated decision to feature surging strikers Deniz Undav and Serhou Guirassy in the starting XI for the first time proved an unqualified success. Undav and Guirassy contributed goals on both sides of the half at the Mercedes Benz Arena on Saturday evening. The result was a one-sided 2-0 win over SV Werder Bremen that allowed VfB Stuttgart to keep an even firmer grip on third place in the Bundesliga table.
Sebastian Hoeneß' surprise Swabians ended up having little difficulty dispatching visiting SV Werder Bremen and collected their third consecutive league win since Guirassy's return from injury.
VfB trainer Hoeneß made three changes to the XI that defeated Eintracht Frankfurt in last Saturday evening's "Top-Spiel". Pascal Stenzel took the place of the injured Hiroki Ito. Congolese attacker Silas replaced Jamie Leweling. True to his word, Hoeneß started both his star strikers Guirassy and Undav. Guirassy was accommodated via the sacrifice of midfielder Angelo Stiller. Werner made just one change to his previous XI. The once-again fit Felix Agu was given Olivier Deman's place in the left-wingback role.
The hosting Swabians exerted dominance in all aspects of the game until Undav finally scored the 1-0 in the 17th. Undav and Guirassy had been trading some lovely one-two combos up unit that point. Newly installed Bremen #1 Michael Zetterer spilled a unnecessary rebound off a Waldemar Anton shot. The Bremen net-minder did not look good at all scrambling after the ball. Undav pounced to score a highly deserved goal against the former academy club that once released him.
Bremen managed nothing at all in terms of a response. Stuttgart continued to push forward via the attacking line of Undav, Guirassy, Silas, and Chris Führich. Several good chances to increase the lead went begging. Guirassy missed a pair of opportunities and had a goal narrowly disallowed for offside. Guirassy again missed a chance and saw himself denied by the offside flag shortly after the restart. Matters settled into a bit of a lull until Guirassy was finally gifted a chance from the penalty spot.
Match official Bastian Dankert ruled that Werder defender Niklas Stark had fouled Guirassy in the box in the 72nd. The Stuttgart scoring sensation had no problems converting past Zetterer, who was also at fault with a poor back-pass out just prior to Stark's foul. Both teams shifted down a gear after the decisive second goal and the affair headed towards a quiet finish. A thoroughly deserved three points now gives Stuttgart a chance to match their entire 2022/23 points total with a win next week.