Cebio Soukou’s strike helped Arminia Bielefeld earn a 1-1 draw against VFB Stuttgart in Monday’s Second Division game.
The visitors came into the game on the back of a four-match winning streak, while the hosts were hoping to bounce back from their 2-0 defeat to Greuther Furth.
After a goalless first-half at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, Stuttgart took the lead courtesy of Mario Gomez’s 56th-minute strike thanks to an assist from Nicolas Gonzalez.
Needing at least a draw to boost their promotion ambition, manager Uwe Neuhaus threw in Soukou for Manuel Prieti in the 65th minute.
It took the Benin Republic international 11 minutes to make his presence felt after firing past goalkeeper Gregor Kobel for his fourth league goal of the season.
Congo DR’s Silas Wamangituka was in action for 78 minutes before making way for Roberto Massimo as Pellegrino Matarazzo’s team laboured in vain to get the winner.
With this draw, Arminia Bielefeld remain as league leaders with 51 points from 25 outings, while Stuttgart are second after amassing 45 points.
Soukou’s team, who are now unbeaten in their last 10 matches across all competitions welcome Osnabruck to Bielefelder Alm in their next outing on Friday, while Stuttgart visit Wehen Wiesbaden two days later.
