Last-gasp Stuttgart steal all three points from Juventus in Turin
Despite being on a four-game winless run, Stuttgart started brightly and squandered two good chances through Maximilian Mittelstadt and Deniz Undav, who both failed to test Mattia Perin.
The hosts continued their slow start, failing to get a grip of the game and allowing Enzo Millot to easily pick out Ermedin Demirovic in the area. He could only hit the post with a low effort, but Perin still ended up as the busiest Juventus player of the first half and notably produced a brilliant save to tip Undav’s looping header over the bar.
Contrastingly, Juventus failed to test Perin’s counterpart Alexander Nubel at all in the opening 45 minutes. And Stuttgart started the second half like they finished the first, on top of Juventus as they looked to win for only the second time in their last 12 games against an Italian side.
Early into the second half, the dangerous Undav thought he had given his side the lead when he smashed the ball into the back of the net from the edge of the area, only to see it ruled out for handball following a VAR review.
Thankfully for the travelling fans, having a goal ruled out didn’t deter Stuttgart as they continued to push for an opener.
However, they kept coming up against the same problem in the form of Perin, who produced another set of remarkable saves to deny Millot and Demirovic.
That latest wave of Stuttgart attacks finally awoke the Old Lady, and they finally carved out their first attempt of the match 65 minutes in, when Nicolo Fagioli picked out Kenan Yildiz just outside the box, leading the winger to fire a powerful effort straight at Nubel.
The game soon turned on its head once again though, when a moment of madness from captain Danilo which saw the defender kick Anthony Rouault in the area, leading referee Espen Eskas to point to the spot after a VAR review.
To make matters worse, Danilo was then sent off for a second booking, just before Perin came to the rescue for Juventus again to deny Millot from the spot, capping off what was shaping up to be a perfect evening on a personal level.
However, the numerical disparity ultimately cost Juventus, as they conceded in stoppage time to a well-worked Stuttgart move that saw substitute El Bilal Toure burst into the box and smash the ball home.
Stuttgart then heroically saw out the remainder of the game to claim their first-ever victory in Italy and their first win of this Champions League campaign.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mattia Perin (Juventus)
