There was a rare, subdued atmosphere inside Signal Iduna Park for the first 12 minutes, as the supporters remained quiet in protest against proposed stricter security measures inside German stadiums.
The lack of noise perhaps contributed to a lacklustre start to proceedings until Maximilian Beier produced the game’s first shot in anger when he rifled a shot over the crossbar just before the half-hour mark.
Minutes later, the hosts were presented with a chance to open the scoring from the penalty spot after the referee ruled that Deniz Undav had bundled Nico Schlotterbeck over in the box. The dependable Emre Can stepped up to slot a low penalty out of Alexander Nubel’s reach to maintain his perfect record from the spot in the Bundesliga.
Buoyed by Can’s first goal since March, Dortmund quickly doubled their advantage despite the best efforts of Nubel. The Stuttgart shot-stopper parried Serhou Guirassy’s left-foot strike and reacted smartly to Beier’s follow-up effort, only for the latter to tap into the empty net after the ball broke kindly into his path.
After conceding two quick goals, Stuttgart would have been grateful for the half-time whistle to regather their composure before catching Dortmund cold to halve the deficit within two minutes of the restart.
Undav demonstrated great centre-forward play to hold off Can to meet Bilal El Khannouss’s looping her and hook an inventive volley over his shoulder and past the helpless Kobel.
The hosts briefly thought they had swiftly restored their two-goal advantage through Serhou Guirassy, but the former Stuttgart man saw his composed finish chalked off for offside. Undav ultimately took full advantage of that reprieve, prodding home his second goal of the game after Maximilian Mittelstadt headed a deep corner towards the danger zone.
Stuttgart’s hard work appeared to be all for nothing when Karim Adeyemi netted late on after racing from his own half and neatly linking up with Beier.
However, Dortmund’s habit of giving up leads reared its ugly head in stoppage time when Undav turned his marker in the box to reverse the ball in at the near post, sealing his hat-trick and snatching a precious point to keep his fifth-placed side level on points with Dortmund in third spot.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Deniz Undav (VfB Stuttgart)