Sevilla 1-1 VfB Stuttgart: A Tale Of Two Halves

Sevilla made hark work of claiming their point against a spirited VfB Stuttgart side in a dramatic encounter at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán

Zdravko Kuzmanović stunning equalizer sealed a point for the visitors after the Andalucians were forced to play the final quarter with only ten men.

Both sides made five changes from the corresponding fixture a fortnight ago but went into the game with wildly different recent patterns of form.

Sevilla, with nine wins from their last ten Champions League games, went into the match as red hot favorites while their German opponents had only won two of their last 15.

That lack of confidence showed in the opening exchanges as an anxious VfB tried to play on the break. Captain, Thomas Hitzlsperger, made a hash of an early attempt when his side were five on two in the Sevilla half only to give the ball away needlessly.

Die Roten were made to pay for their sluggish start when Jesús Navas gave the Andalucians a deserved lead in the 14th minute after a delightful three man move.

The Spaniard, who has been in sparkling form recently, got on the receiving end of a one touch pass from Luis Fabiano and with the goal at his mercy he slotted past Lehmann from inside the Stuttgart box.

It was Fabiano's fourth assist in the Champions League and the hosts were showing no signs of missing the absent Kanoute up front.

The German side showed precious little in the first half with La Liga flop
Aliaksandr Hleb struggling to get into the game

Pavel Pogrebnyak went closest for the visitors when he got on the receiving end of a Hleb pass and after making some space for himself fired over the bar from 20 yards out.

Sevilla continued to apply the pressure and went close again through Alvaro Negredo in the 40th minute but he squared his effort straight at Lehmann. The former Real Madrid man replaced the unlucky Arouna Koné who hobbled off, not for the first time, on the half-hour mark nursing an injury.

Stuttgart coach, Markus Babbel, had clearly seen enough and made two changes for the second half bringing on Rudy and Celozzi for Hibert and the struggling Boulahrouz.

Playing for their Champions League lives, Babbel's side approached the second half with a more positive attitude embodied by the presence of teenage sub Sebastian Rudy.

Rudy went close to nodding an equalizer in the 54th minute when he headed over the bar after a well worked VfB set piece.

Barely a minute later the struggling German side should have tied the contest when Pogrebnyak rifled a shot from outside the Sevilla box which came back off the crossbar.

It wasn't only the woodwork which was wobbling as Sevilla looked increasingly shaky dealing with the barrage of Stuttgart attacks.

Coach Manolo Jiménez used his three substitutions by the hour mark replacing Romaric with the more defensively minded Aldo Duscher. It was a decision that would come back to haunt Los Rojiblancos.

Throwing caution to the wind, Babbel sent on Die Roten's topscorer Julian Schieber replacing captain Hitzlsperger for the final 25 minutes as his side went in search of a goal.

Drama struck for the Spaniards with a quarter of an hour remaining as they were forced to play the rest of the game with only ten men.

Substitute Aldo Duscher, who had barely broken sweat, signaled to the bench that he was struggling and trudged off leaving his side short in midfield against a galvanized Stuttgart.

Jiménez was made to pay for his cautiousness when Die Roten squared matters via a fabulous strike from Zdravko Kuzmanović with ten minutes left to play.

VfB's big money summer signing scored his first goal for the Germans when he found himself in plenty of space after receiving a fine pass from Pogrebnyak and from 20 meters out he let rip to give the visitors a much merited equalizer.

With a man advantage VfB bombed forward looking for a winner and it almost came in the 84th minute through Schieber.

The substitute got on the receiving end of a terrific cross-field delivery from Boka and with the goal at his mercy he failed to connect accurately and saw his header whizz by the post.

Sevilla, who barely resembled the attacking side from the first half, tried to run down the clock much to Markus Babbel's disgust.

After four minutes of injury time they did indeed hang on for a point against an inspired Stuttgart side who should have punished Jiménez's mistake by stealing a winner.

Patrick Reilly, Goal.com

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