Böőr strike sours Stuttgart's night

Goals from Serdar Tasci and Ciprian Marica looked to have given VfB Stuttgart a firm foothold in their UEFA Cup second qualifying round tie against Győri ETO FC, but Zoltán Böőr's strike handed the Hungarian side something to build on in the return leg on 28 August.

Headed opener
There were few surprises after the opening whistle at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion, with Stuttgart seizing the initiative and their Hungarian guests defending deep. However, Győr had experienced little sustained pressure before they conceded the opener, with 21-year-old defender Tasci rising to head Jan Šimák's corner home after 13 minutes.

Loose pass
Czech midfielder Šimák, a summer signing from FC Carl Zeiss Jena, then drew a decent save from Győr goalkeeper Saša Stevanović with a free-kick and sent another set-piece effort just wide. The game looked to be disappearing out of Győr's reach when a Zoltán Kovacs pass was intercepted by Romanian striker Marica, who scored in the 33rd minute, and the 22-year-old was only denied a second by a good Stevanović save soon afterwards.

Away goal
However, the tie was turned on its head just before half-time. Having failed to conjure up a shot on goal in the previous 45 minutes, Győr pounced after Sami Khedira lost possession just outside his penalty area, with Hungarian international striker Böőr driving home from just outside the box. Seemingly crestfallen, Stuttgart showed less urgency after the break with both Mario Gómez (54) and Marica (57) passing up decent opportunities, but the outcome could have been worse for the Swabian outfit, as György Jozsi almost headed an equaliser.