Jamie Leweling netted a first-half brace while Deniz Undav produced a goal and two assists as Stuttgart stunned Bayer Leverkusen with a ruthless 4-1 away victory at the BayArena.
Leverkusen’s return from the Bundesliga winter break turned into a nightmare, as they were effectively dismantled before half-time by a rampant Stuttgart side who scored all four of their goals inside the opening 45 minutes.
The visitors signalled their intent almost immediately when Josha Vagnoman forced Mark Flekken into an early save. Stuttgart’s breakthrough arrived in the seventh minute as Leweling calmly rounded the goalkeeper to finish.
Leweling thought he had doubled his tally soon after, but his effort was ruled out for offside.
Stuttgart were undeterred and made it 2-0 in the 29th minute when Maximilian Mittelstadt converted from the spot after Vagnoman was fouled by Jeanuel Belocian.
Stuttgart then turned the match into a rout just before the break. Undav provided his second assist of the afternoon for Leweling to score the third, before the striker added a goal of his own moments later, slipping the ball between Flekken’s legs to complete a devastating first-half display.
Leverkusen boss Kasper Hjulmand responded with two changes at the interval, introducing Loïc Badé and Ernest Poku. Poku nearly made an instant impact, creating a chance for Martin Terrier, who failed to make clean contact.
The hosts finally found the net in the 66th minute when Alejandro Grimaldo converted a penalty after Malick Tillman was brought down by Jeff Chabot. However, it proved little more than a consolation on an otherwise painful afternoon.
Stuttgart’s dominance before the interval was reflected in the statistics, as they recorded seven shots on target from eight attempts and posted 2.5 expected goals, compared to Leverkusen’s 0.61 in the first half.
Although Leverkusen improved after the restart and finished with more shots overall, the early damage was irreversible.
The result also ended Stuttgart’s 15-match competitive winless run against Leverkusen — their longest such streak against any Bundesliga opponent.
