Stuttgart beat Leverkusen 4-2 and Leverkusen drops to sixth in the Bundesliga

Stuttgart take control early in Leverkusen

Stuttgart started the eighth Bundesliga matchday with real intensity and held a two-goal lead before the half hour. Ermedin Demirovic opened the scoring in the 14th minute, pouncing on a rebound after a first attempt by Bilal El Khannouss had been blocked by the Leverkusen defence. Jamie Leweling doubled the advantage in the 22nd minute, following up after Grischa Promel's shot was saved by goalkeeper Flekken. Leverkusen responded in the 28th minute, when Patrik Schick headed in a corner taken by Aleix Garcia. Blick adds that Ibrahim Maza then struck the crossbar from about 13 metres.

A second-half collapse for the hosts

Stuttgart restored the two-goal cushion just six minutes after the restart, when El Khannouss struck a low shot from the edge of the area. Demirovic completed his brace in the 65th minute, finishing a pass from Deniz Undav. Earlier, in the 39th minute, a foul by Stuttgart led to a scuffle in which several players clashed on the pitch, and referee Benjamin Brand showed two yellow cards per team, according to 20 Minuten. Maza headed in a cross in the 79th minute to set the final score at 4-2. Sources differ on who delivered that cross, with RTP crediting Miguel Gutiérrez and Blick naming Jonas Hofmann.

Leverkusen slip to sixth

The defeat moved Leverkusen from third to sixth with 13 points, outside the Champions League qualification zone, according to SAPO and RTP. 20 Minuten described Leverkusen as very strong in October before this slump. Stuttgart climbed provisionally to tenth place, RTP reports. SRF notes that Stuttgart had lost five of their first seven Bundesliga games before the trip to Leverkusen. Defender Luca Jaquez started a league match for Stuttgart for the first time this season and was substituted in the 65th minute, per SRF.

Results elsewhere on the matchday

Freiburg beat Augsburg 2-1 to move up to third with 16 points. Michael Gregoritsch gave Augsburg the lead, before Igor Matanovic equalised in the 65th minute and Cyriaque Irié scored the winner in the 85th minute. Leipzig and Werder Bremen both have 15 points after winning 2-0, Leipzig against Schalke 04 and Werder against Hoffenheim. Niclas Füllkrug scored for Werder, extending his run to seven consecutive league matches with a goal, according to 20 Minuten. Borussia Mönchengladbach and Paderborn drew 0-0, with a Joe Scally goal for Gladbach ruled out by VAR for a foul on Nahuel Noll.

Freiburg16

Leipzig15

Werder Bremen15

Leverkusen13

Freiburg

16 points

Leipzig

15 points

Werder Bremen

15 points

Leverkusen

13 points

Data from the article text

Schalke and streaks

Schalke 04 lost 2-0 at home to Leipzig and have now gone four matches in a row without scoring, including a DFB-Pokal exit at second-division Dresden, according to SRF. 20 Minuten reports that Schalke now sit in the relegation zone after a strong start faded. Demirovic's two goals took his season tally to five, according to SRF. Füllkrug's league scoring run continues at 33 years old, but SRF notes that it remains well short of Gerd Müller's record of 16 consecutive games from the 1969/70 season.