Stuttgart returnee Deniz Undav reflects on ‘stupid’ game-winning goal | OneFootball

Eight matchdays into the current Bundesliga campaign, Stuttgart striker Deniz Undav has recovered from injury and is back starting for his club. The six-times-capped German international was immediately able to make a contribution on Sunday, scoring the winning goal in Stuttgart’s 2-1 win over Mainz 05. The victory was sorely needed.

After more ill-timed injuries and European woes, the Württemberger were at least able to keep pace in the Bundesliga table. Stuttgart’s sixth win of the season enables them to keep a hold on third place behind Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig. Undav’s 80th-minute game-winning goal gave the hometown fans something to cheer about at the end of a generally boring match. 

“It was ugly,” Undav admitted when speaking to DAZN afterwards. “We knew that we just had to keep running and running until the right moment came. I was pretty exhausted by the last six or seven minutes.“

The “moment” Undav spoke of literally came out of nowhere. Stuttgart keeper Alexander Nübel launched a long ball in Undav’s direction. Mainz defender Stefan Bell misjudged it. Undav latched on and chipped the ball past Mainz keeper Robin Zentner. Keeper Nübel was able to register his second career Bundesliga assist on the play. 

“I wanted to shoot between his [Zentner’s] legs, but changed my mind at the last moment because I’m stupid,” Undav noted with his usual trademark sense-of-humor. “I guess I did everything right, but Chris Führich’s [45+4 1-1] was better.“

GGFN | Peter Weis