Wirtz leads 10-man Leverkusen to 3-1 win at Stuttgart

Posted September 19, 2021 7:00 am

By CIARÃN FAHEY

Leverkusen's Patrik Schick, left, and Stuttgart's Hiroki Ito challenge for the ball during a German Bundesliga soccer match between VfB Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen in Stuttgart, Germany, Sunday, Sept.19, 2021. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP) The Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) - Florian Wirtz led 10-man Bayer Leverkusen to a 3-1 win at Stuttgart on Sunday, dealing American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo's team its third loss in five Bundesliga games this season.

The 18-year-old Wirtz set up Leverkusen's second goal in the 19th minute and scored the third to give the visitors their third win of the season.

Robert Andrich was the central figure for Leverkusen in the first half - for mixed reasons.

Andrich scored the opening goal - the first since his summer switch from Union Berlin - in the second minute, but was sent off with the team leading 2-0 in the 30th. Andrich was initially shown a yellow card for his studs-up lunge at Tanguy Coulibaly's knee but a VAR intervention switched it to red. Coulibaly was fortunate to be able to continue.

Wirtz had set up Patrik Schick for Leverkusen's second goal and the visitors looked like scoring more as they maintained their grip on the game until Andrich's dismissal.

Orel Mangala equalized in the 38th, finishing off the rebound after LukÃ¡Å¡ HrÃ¡deckÃ½ brilliantly saved Konstantinos Mavropanos' header from a free kick.

Halftime provided a welcome break for Leverkusen.

Leverkusen's Kerem Demirbay was involved in a midfield scrap for the ball, which fell to Wirtz, who surged forward and fired inside the far corner in the 70th.

This time, Stuttgart had no response.

Borussia Dortmund hosts Union Berlin later Sunday, and Eintracht Frankfurt is at Wolfsburg.

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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CiarÃ¡n Fahey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cfaheyAP

Stuttgart's Konstantinos Mavropanos. left, and Leverkusen's Patrik Schick challenge for the ball during a German Bundesliga soccer match between VfB Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen in Stuttgart, Germany, Sunday, Sept.19, 2021. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP) The Associated Press

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