Late, late show against Young Boys

Match summary

VfB strike twice

Head coach Sebastian Hoeneß’s side got off to a perfect start, taking the lead from the first chance of the match after a cross from Lorenz Assignon into the box found Deniz Undav, who slotted home from ten metres out.

Barely 60 seconds later, the fans in the MHP Arena had more reason to celebrate. This time Undav fed Ermedin Demirovic in the area and the striker kept his cool to beat Marvin Keller and double the lead.

Jeltsch hits the woodwork

With a two-goal cushion, Stuttgart were able to turn the match into a one-sided affair, dominating possession. They were unlucky after half an hour that Keller was able to parry a fantastic long-range effort from Finn Jeltsch onto the left-hand post.

Young Boys halve deficit

Shortly before the break however, Armin Gigovic let fly with an unstoppable shot into the top left-hand corner, and that enabled the side from the Swiss capital to go into the break just one goal adrift at 2-1.

Lauper equalises

After the restart, VfB again invited pressure from the visitors, and shortly before the hour mark, a highlight-reel volley from Sandro Lauper made it 2-2. Then in the 64^th minute, Bredlow had to pull off a reflex save from an Alvyn Sanches header just outside the six-yard box to keep his side on level terms.

Late Chema goal

The teams went toe-to-toe looking for a winner, and Young Boys squandered two opportunities from counter attacks. VfB then made them pay in the last minute of regulation time, as Chema Andres secured the three points at the death.

Hoeneß’s side thus conclude the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Europa League with 15 points, putting them into a play-off spot. The draw will be made tomorrow, Friday 30 January, with the knockout matches to be played on 19 and 26 February 2026.

Goals

6^th minute: Assignon sends a perfect cross from the right into the box, and Undav opens the scoring from 10 metres out.

7^th minute: Undav feeds the ball for Demirovic to run onto in the penalty area. He shrugs off his marker and slots the ball past the goalkeeper.

42^nd minute: Under little pressure, Fabian Bredlow gives the ball away and Gigovic fires the ball into the top left-hand corner from the edge of the area.

57^th minute: Lauper connects with a corner and volleys home from 18 metres out into the bottom right-hand corner.

90^th minute: On the counter, Leweling crosses from the left, Chema Andres meets it in the box and stabs home from close range.