Woltemade plays "Super Sub" as Stuttgart come back against Union

Young German striker Nick Woltedmade has followed up his impressive two-scorer-point-haul in the Pokal midweek with a stunning scorer's brace in VfB Stuttgart's comeback win over visiting 1. FC Union Berlin in the Bundesliga's Friday round 13 curtain raiser. After narrowly missing out on the chance to be the hero against former club SV Werder Bremen last weekend, Woltemade came on at the half to lead Sebastian Hoeneß' Swabians past Bo Svensson's 1. FC Union Berlin. The youngster lighting it up for club and country has delivered once again. 

Hoeneß went with six changes to the team that prevailed over Regensburg in the cup. Alexander Nübel returned to take the place of Fabian Bredlow in goal. Fullbacks Pascal Stenzel and Ramon Hendriks made way for Maximilian Mittelstädt and Leonidas Stergiou. Regulars Atakan Karazor, Josha Vagnoman, and Ermedin Demirovic also returned to reprise their roles over Yannik Keitel, Fabian Rieder, and Woltemade.

Svensson made three changes to the squad that narrowly lost to Leverkusen in the league last weekend. Diogo Leite made his comeback from injury, replacing Kevin Vogt in defense. Andras Schäfer took over for Aljosha Kemlein in midfield while Robert Skov slotted in for Christopher Trimmel at right wingback. Union maintained their 3-4-3 shape. 

An uneventful opening half-hour produced little beyond a wide shot from Demirovic, who was likely offside anyway, in the 22nd. Svensson's Köpenickers sat deep and remained compact, frustrating most every attempt by the Swabians to move forward. Union then surprisingly took the lead in the 37th on a Nübel gaffe.

Stuttgart fell asleep off a throw in. Danilho Doekhi's headed of a Schäfer cross wasn't particularly well placed. Nübel attempted to catch a ball he likely should have punched away. The ball slipped through the VfB net-minder's fingers and caromed in off the crossbar. An attempted clearance from Anthony Rouault came too late.

Rattled, Nübel punched away a Tim Skarke effort he might have caught three minutes later. Hoeneß opted for a radical change at the break, introducing Woltemade for Stergiou and re-formatting to a 4-4-2. At first, it appeared as if this would yield nothing. Union increased their lead in the 48th when a Skov cross wandered past the disorganized VfB ranks and into the back of the net. 

Woltemade nevertheless would not let the 0-2 deficit stand. The youngster pulled a goal back in the 51st, latching onto a Demirovic pass and rounding Rønnow confidently before slotting home the 1-2. The tenacious 22-year-old nearly set up Chris Führich for the equalizer five minutes later. Three minutes after that, it would be Woltemade himself who netted the equalizer.

Once again, Woltemade demonstrated remarkable calm in front of goal. After drawing Rønnow out with a pair of immaculate touches, the Germany U21 international flatly finished off the 2-2 in the 59th. Woltemade nearly achieved the spectacular by rounding Rønnow on the right yet again in the 66th, but couldn't finish off the hat trick from an acute angle.

Rønnow's evening turned into a right nightmare when he gifted the hosts the lead in the 69th. Karazor took advantage of a botched clearance sent directly at him from only ten meters out. The Stuttgart captain easily powered in the 3-2. The Berliners didn't go down without a fight and indeed themselves nearly equalized when subbed-on FCU striker Jordan struck the crossbar in the 71st.

By the final ten minutes, however, Svensson's side simply ran out of steam. A medical emergency in the stands quieted the crowd and not much happened on the pitch either. Doekhi remained attentive to prevent Woltemade from collecting his hat trick on a counter at 90+3. FCU sub Yorbe Vertessen attempted to draw a penalty at 90+5, but only succeeded in getting himself booked for diving and three teammates booked for dissent.