Hoeneß: “Second goal decided the game” as Stuttgart suffer heavy Bayern defeat | OneFootball

Stuttgart entered the afternoon with the chance to strengthen their position near the top of the table, and after a 5-0 defeat against southern neighbours Bayern Munich, head coach Sebastian Hoeneß did not attempt to hide his disappointment at how his side began.

“We didn’t get into the game the way we had intended,” he said afterwards (via VfB's website). “We have to defend the first goal better - it was definitely not the start we wanted.”

Despite the early setback, Stuttgart responded well and gradually grew into the match. 

With VfB showing more aggression and intensity in midfield, they created several promising moments and appeared to have found an equaliser shortly before the break when Nikolas Nartey headed past Jonas Urbig. The goal, however, was ruled out for a marginal offside after a lengthy VAR check.

“The team worked their way into the game, showed passion, created chances, tried a lot,” Hoeneß reflected. “Unfortunately, Niko was just offside. If that goal stands, the match could have developed differently. At that point, the game was relatively open.”

Instead, the decisive moment arrived early in the second half, when Bayern doubled their lead and seized full control.

“The game was decided with the second goal - with that, we gave the match away,” Hoeneß said. “We can definitely defend that situation much better collectively. After that, the match wrote a very unfortunate story for us.”

With Bayern’s substitutes - particularly Harry Kane - turning the final half-hour into a rout, Stuttgart were left to process a rare heavy defeat in what has been an otherwise strong season.

“We won’t be going home with a good feeling today,” Hoeneß concluded.