Stuttgart edge past Augsburg
Stuttgart - VfB Stuttgart put a bitter derby defeat behind them to grind out a narrow 2-1 win against FC Augsburg, who are now without a win since Matchday 7 and stranded at the foot of the Bundesliga standings.
Traore and Koo trade blows
Ex-Augsburg player Ibrahima Traore and Vedad Ibisevic combined twice either side of a Ja-Cheol Koo thunderbolt to secure all three points for Bruno Labbadia's men, moving them into the mid-table congestion.
With points at a premium in the bottom half of the table it was clear to see that both Stuttgart and Augsburg were desperate to improve their situations as they looked break forward quickly at every opportunity. The hosts established an early grip on proceedings with Augsburg sitting deep and, after sending in two dangerous crosses that failed to find a teammate, Traore was on hand to break the deadlock against his former club from Ibisevic's pull back.
The visitors had their sights set on hitting the home side on the counter-attack, but with Stuttgart dominating possession, chances were few and far between for Markus Weinzierl's side as the pace of the game settled into a monotonous rhythm. Fortunately, after Rafael Holzhauser and Marcel de Jong exchanged tame free-kicks at either end, Koo breathed life back into the encounter by beating Sven Ulreich all ends up with a stunning drive from 25-yards on the stroke of half-time.
Stuttgart stay strong
Stuttgart immediately went about putting the visitors under pressure after the restart, but though the game opened up with both sides looking to put themselves ahead, a lack of quality in the final third meant the scoreline was rarely threatened. With twenty minutes remaining, though, Stuttgart retook the lead as Traore returned the earlier favour by finding Ibisevic with a free-kick that the Bosnian duly headed past Mohamed Amsif.
True to character Augsburg fought back, but found a worthy adversary in the form of Ulreich, who first denied Sascha Mölders' close-range effort and then Koo's toe-poke to prevent the visitors levelling scores. Weinzierl's charges threw the kitchen sink at the Swabian side in the closing stages, but it wasn't enough in the end as Stuttgart bounced back to winning ways, leaving Augsburg to prop up the rest of the table.
Line-ups and statistics
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