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Stuttgart (dpa) - VfB Stuttgart has celebrated its 750th victory in the Bundesliga and thus maintained the connection to the European Cup places.
The Swabian newly promoted team won 1-0 (0-0) against SV Werder Bremen with a late own goal by Ludwig Augustinsson (81st minute) on Easter Sunday and is only four points behind the European Cup ranks with seven games left.
The Hanseatic League, however, could get into trouble again after their third defeat in a row in the relegation battle.
Their lead on the relegation place is still quite comfortable seven points, but with RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund they have two high hurdles ahead of them in the league.
The lack of various offensive forces and enforcers made itself felt on both sides.
When everything was already pointing to a goalless draw, Werders Augustinsson maneuvered the ball into their own net in distress and from close range.
It was Bremen's third own goal this season - only Schalke (5), who have almost certainly been relegated, have more.
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Both teams were committed and looked for the way forward, but made a lot of inaccuracies and created goal danger almost exclusively through long-range shots.
For VfB, who in addition to top scorer Silas Wamangituka (cruciate ligament tear) also had to do without the Argentine promotion hero Nicolas Gonzalez (muscle fiber tear), U21 international Mateo Klimowicz (6th) and Philipp Förster (25th) gave the best opportunities before the break.
Bremen, who had previously lost twice and where Niclas Füllkrug replaced the suspended Joshua Sargent in the storm, tested Stuttgart goalkeeper Gregor Kobel three times in a balanced first half.
But Romano Schmid (10th), Augustinsson with a nice direct acceptance (22nd) and Kevin Möhwald (31st) all failed because of the attentive Swiss.
The first dangerous scene of the second round was a long-range shot: Stuttgart's Borna Sosa chased the ball after a corner from the edge of the penalty area just over the box (54th).
On the other side, Füllkrug then aimed significantly too high in an attempt from twelve meters (55th).
It was the briskest phase of the game until then, in which VfB talent Klimowicz also fired another low shot (58th) - and Bremen's jubilee Maximilian Eggestein (150th Bundesliga game) received his fifth yellow card.
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Stuttgart striker Sasa Kalajdzic, who had scored in seven of the previous eight league games, hardly appeared this time and remained without any significant penalty area scene until shortly before the end.
Perhaps the 23-year-old Austrian lacked the necessary freshness after his three appearances for the national team.
But with nine minutes to go, Kalajdzic was there.
After a cross from Sosa from the left, he climbed up to the header, Bremen's Augustinsson wanted to clear - and hit his own goal.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210404-99-83793 / 2
Squad VfB Stuttgart
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Schedule VfB Stuttgart
Squad Werder Bremen
Schedule Werder Bremen