VfB Stuttgart
| 1-0 | Gentner | (9. Min) |
| 2-0 | Harnik | (19. Min) |
Borussia Dortmund
| 2-1 | Reus | (30. Min) |
| 2-2 | Reus | (68. Min) |
| 2-3 | Reus | (82. Min) |
Oliver Kirch
Georg Niedermeier
Stats 
Gallant effort – bitter disappointment!
VfB had the favourites from teetering on the brink, but couldn’t land the final blow. At the end of a hard-fought battle, in which Huub Steven’s took a 2-0 lead, the hosts were left dejected and empty-handed as BVB hit back to make it 2-3 (2-1) and steal the points away from the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
VfB trainer Huub Stevens made two changes to the side which began against 1. FC Nürnberg in mid-week, with Gotoku Sakai and Konstantin Rausch being replaced by winter signing Carlos Gruezo, making his starting eleven debut, and Daniel Didavi, who was making his Bundesliga comeback after over a year of injury forced absence.
Right from the outset, the VfB eleven met the coach’s requirements, closing down the opponents and making it very difficult for Borussia to create. With just nine minutes on the clock, the hosts were rewarded for their efforts when captain Christian Gentner took possession from a poorly played clearance and fired home from 16 meters out to put VfB in front. The visitors looked to snatch an immediate equaliser, but Georg Niedermeier blocked Robert Lewandowski’s shot (12‘) and a minute later, Sven Ulreich got down to save from Kevin Großkreutz.
Quote for the game
Huub Stevens: "We are all disappointed about having lost this game. That said though, we played against Dortmund with a great willingness to battle, a compact set-up and showing constant mutual support – those are elements which can take us away from the foot of the table. The lads battled extremely hard. It is very hard to play against Dortmund with ten men." Post match comments
VfB continued to battle on and in the 19th minute, Ibrahima Traoré made a burst down the right flank, leaving Erik Durm trailing behind him, and fired a delivery to the centre, where Martin Harnik was perfectly placed to make it 2-0.
Huub Stevens’ men quickly found out just how difficult it is to hold a side of BVB’s quality at bay. On the half-hour mark, Marco Reus fired home to reduce the deficit to 2-1. Reus was denied by the outstretched leg of Georg Niedermeier before the break and VfB duly took their advantage in at half-time.
Dortmund revival
For the second period, VfB had their fans in the Cannstatter Kurve behind them but the VfB supporters were left gasping in the 55th minute, when Dortmund‘s Robert Lewandowski cracked a shot off the post. At the other end, Vedad Ibisevic tried his luck from 16 meters out, but to no avail. On the hour, Daniel Didavi comeback came to an end, as he was replaced by Alexandru Maxim. The Romanian was only minutes on the pitch, when Marco Reus levelled the scores from the penalty spot. The spot-kick was awarded following a challenge Georg Niedermeier on Robert Lewandowski, which cost the VfB centre-half a red card.
In the 72nd minute, the match was briefly interrupted when referee Michael Weiner damaged a calf and had to be replaced by assistant Norbert Grudzinski. Soon after the re-start, Reus was in action again, forcing a strong save from Sven Ulreich (78‘). In spite of being a man down, VfB continued to give their all, but were caught cold in the 83rd minute, when a Marco Reus shot was deflected past Ulreich to hand BVB the lead. A minute later, Martin Harnik sliced an opportunity to equalise wide of the mark and for all of their committed efforts, the boys from Cannstatt were left disappointed and empty-handed.
