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Tim Kleindienst (r.) continued successfully with 1. FC Heidenheim
Photo: Eibner press photo / Memmler / Eibner / IMAGO
VfB Stuttgart remains unbeaten in the Bundesliga for the ninth game in a row, but has to be content with one point after the 3:3 (2:0) against 1. FC Heidenheim. First, Serhou Guirassy (41st minute) and Angelo Stiller (53rd) took the 2-0 lead. VfB goalkeeper Alexander Gübel then put Heidenheim in touch with an own goal (62'), before Tim Kleindienst scored twice within two minutes (84'/86'). When everything looked like Heidenheim would win, Deniz Undav made it 3-3 in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
The game initially has no further significance for the table. Stuttgart remains third, four points ahead of Borussia Dortmund. Promoted Stories Heidenheim is in a secure midfield position in eleventh place with 30 points.
On the sidelines of the game, the VfB fans demonstrated against their own club management: in the first ten minutes they refused their support, black clouds of smoke rose from the fan block and many supporters appeared in black clothing. A banner read: “Supervisory Board, Investors, Presidium: Enough!”
The background is a power struggle at the top of the club. First, President Claus Vogt was voted out of office as head of the AG's supervisory board, thus breaking a promise made to members over the years that the president of the association should always remain chairman of the supervisory board.
As a result, the various sides issued public statements on the conflict. The organized VfB fan scene demanded the resignation of the executive committee. However, Vogt ruled out resigning as president. The new VfB investor Porsche had pushed for the change at the top of the supervisory board, which is now led by Tanja Gönner.
Stuttgart initially dominated the action on the pitch; taking the lead was only a matter of time. The fact that the goal was not scored by Undav (15th/29th), Guirassy (17th) or Christian Führich (39th) was largely due to their strong goalkeeper Kevin Müller. At 1-0 he was powerless: After a pass into the center, Stiller started deep into the penalty area, after two backheel passes from Guirassy and Undav he was able to pass the ball back to Guirassy, who scored his 23rd goal of the season from three meters ( 41.).
Stuttgart remained in control until the 84th minute
VfB repeatedly suddenly increased the tempo in their own actions and thus gained too much space. This was also the case at 2-0, when Stiller and Undav used a one-two to ensure that Stiller had plenty of time to score from 14 meters (53').
The game then became exciting again because Nübel made a mistake: After a corner, he caught the ball first, but then let it fall and only caught the air when he reached back (62nd).
But VfB didn't let that worry them; the substitution of Silas Katompa Mvumpa in particular livened up the game. But in the 74th minute he only hit the post. Instead, Heidenheim turned the game around out of nowhere. First Kleindienst completed a perfect cross from Jan-Niklas-Beste with his foot (84th). Then Eren Dinkçi set up for Kleindienst again, this time converting with his head (86').
In stoppage time, Heidenheim's Nikola Dovedan saw red (90+6). This opened up space for Stuttgart, which Undav used to equalize (90+8).
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