Despite 1. FC Nürnberg taking a two-nil lead through Hanno Behrens and Cedric Teuchert against VfB Stuttgart, goals from Simon Terodde, Daniel Ginczek and Florian Klein secured a 2-3 win for the Swabians.
Team news
After a 1-1 draw with Würzburger Kickers, Michael Köllner didn't hesitate to alternate his line-up. Miso Brecko, Georg Margreitter, Tobias Kempe, Kevin Möhwald, Mikael Ishak were all replaced by Patrick Kammerbauer, Dave Bulthuis, Lucas Hufnagel, Edgar Salli and Teuchert.
As for VfB Stuttgart, there were no changes made by Hannes Wolf following their 3-1 win over 1. FC Union Berlin on Monday.
Behrens and Teuchert strike
Chances were few and far between in the opening 20 minutes in Franconia, as two similar set-ups butted heads in a tough midfield battle. Salli and Terodde had opportunities to break into the box but some fine defending by Lukas Mühl and Benjamin Pavard, respectively, kept both players at bay.
Stuttgart would produce the first real opening in the game as Alexandru Maxim's sliding free-kick made its way through the box before being turned away by Raphael Schäfer. The rebound didn't bounce at all kindly for the veteran stopper, but he showed good reactions to again gather the loose ball.
Despite that effort at goal, it was Nürnberg who marched up the other end to open the scoring. Behrens had initially been fouled but a short stoppage and a quick free-kick from Teuchert set him running again. The midfielder drove to the edge of the area and fired a fine shot past the outstretched hand of Mitchell Langerak.
The Australian stopper then made a smart stop to deny Salli's close range poke, but there was little he could do to halt Teuchert's drive and strike. He picked the ball up just inside his own half before the young forward drove towards goal, swerving around before entering the box and finding the top corner with no real effort.
Klein kills off the hosts
At half-time, however, everything changed. Ginczek was brought on and within 60 seconds, Terodde was fouled by Mühl and Bastian Dankert pointed immediately to the spot. The youngster was lucky to escape a second yellow but Terodde made him pay regardless, finding the top corner from 12 yards to take his tally to 21 this season.
Just three minutes later, there was more to celebrate for the packed away block as Ginczek grabbed a quick-fire second goal and equaliser. Maxim's corner was whipped in towards the six-yard box and Ginczek clambered over Kammerbauer to force the ball goalwards and back to the corner from where it came.
Yet the hosts were not deflated and again it was Langerak who showed how important he is to Wolf's side. He did superbly well to turn over Eduard Löwen's header as it started to drop into the top corner, while a similarly good save saw him push Salli's low drive wide.
The two sides continued to battle back and forward without much in the way of movement at either end. Teuchert felt he had been fouled on his way to goal but the game looked like heading to a draw. Yet, a long ball forward, a clever knock-down and Terodde's turn inside saw Klein rifle home from close range and send 15,000 visiting fans crazy.
Stuttgart have ensured they will remain at least three points clear at the top of 2. Bundesliga regardless of the scores tomorrow, while Nürnberg will remain in mid-table.