Bayer Leverkusen 2-4 VfB Stuttgart: Ermedin Demirovic brace sinks the hosts

Bayer Leverkusen had almost two-thirds of the possession, more corners and more shots on target than VfB Stuttgart at the BayArena — and lost 2-4. Ermedin Demirovic scored twice, either side of goals from Jamie Leweling and Bilal El Khannouss, to hand Stuttgart their biggest win of the season on the road.

Demirovic opened the scoring on 14 minutes and Leweling doubled it eight minutes later, Stuttgart two goals up inside the first half-hour without Leverkusen laying a glove on them. Patrik Schick headed one back for the hosts on 28, Aleix García supplying the cross, but the visitors kept finding a way through: El Khannouss restored the two-goal gap just after half-time, finishing off a Chris Führich pass, and Demirovic completed his brace on 65 minutes from a Deniz Undav assist. Ibrahim Maza's header eight minutes from time, set up by Miguel Gutiérrez, was the last word.

Match facts

• 14' — Ermedin Demirovic (VfB Stuttgart)
• 22' — Jamie Leweling (VfB Stuttgart)
• 28' — Patrik Schick, assisted by Aleix García (Bayer Leverkusen)
• 51' — Bilal El Khannouss, assisted by Chris Führich (VfB Stuttgart)
• 65' — Ermedin Demirovic, assisted by Deniz Undav (VfB Stuttgart)
• 79' — Ibrahim Maza, assisted by Miguel Gutiérrez (Bayer Leverkusen)

A flashpoint on 40 minutes produced four yellow cards inside the same minute — Aleix García and Facundo Medina for Leverkusen, Jeff Chabot and Luca Jaquez for Stuttgart — half the match's booking total in one go.

Lineups

Leverkusen started in a 4-2-3-1: Mark Flekken, Facundo Medina, Edmond Tapsoba, Miguel Gutiérrez, Jarell Quansah, Ibrahim Maza, Aleix García, Ezequiel Fernández, Patrik Schick, Afonso Moreira and Lucas Vázquez, with Malik Tillman, Robert Andrich, Victor Boniface and Jonas Hofmann sent on from the bench.

Stuttgart lined up in the same shape, Dennis Seimen behind Jeff Chabot, Luca Jaquez, Ramon Hendriks, Jamie Leweling, Deniz Undav, Grischa Prömel, Atakan Karazor, Ermedin Demirovic, Chris Führich and Bilal El Khannouss, using five substitutes to see the game out.

A second straight defeat for Leverkusen

This was Leverkusen's second loss in a row, following a 0-3 defeat at Hoffenheim the previous round — a side that had won three of its previous four now without a win in two. Stuttgart, by contrast, arrived having lost two of their last three league games, including narrow defeats to Hamburger SV and Borussia Mönchengladbach, and turned that run around in the most emphatic way available to them.

Where the table stands

Leverkusen went into the round fourth on 13 points; the defeat leaves that total unchanged while the rest of the division catches up around them. Stuttgart had just 6 points from seven games, deep in the bottom half — this result takes them to 9, their joint-best haul yet, with other matchday 8 fixtures still to be played before the full picture settles.