“He said he owes us goals” – matchwinner Tiago Tomás taking responsibility with Stuttgart
Stuttgart 3-2 Augsburg
Portuguese youngster Tiago Tomás was the hero for VFB Stuttgart this weekend as the relegation battlers once again produced a remarkable turnaround to take all three points in the Bundesliga.
Stuttgart twice went behind at the Mercedes-Benz aren’t, and trailed 2-1 at half time. However, Omar Marmoush levelled with just over ten minutes remaining and Sporting loanee Tomás snatched a winner in the 85th minute in a battle between two of the league’s survival hopefuls.
It is the second home match running which Stuttgart have won 3-2 from a losing position. Two weeks prior Die Roten found themselves two goals down to Borussia Monchengladbach before staging their fightback. On that occasion, Tomás did not get himself on the scoresheet, missing two presentable opportunities.
After the victory against Augsburg on Saturday, sporting director Sven Mislintat praised Tomás and revealed the extent to which the Portuguese, who scored twice on his debut against Bayer Leverkusen last month, embraces the expectations of him as a goalscorer.
“Tiago is good for us with the way he plays his game,” said Mislentat. “He has a lot of intensity, presses, holds it up, has good pace and is good in 1v1s. After the game against Gladbach he said he owed us two goals. He made up at least one of those goals today – and that’s worth two points. But he is also welcome to continue.”
Speaking after his winner, 19-year-old Tomás told reporters: “The atmosphere was incredible and they [the fans] deserve this win. The way the game went and how we got the win was the perfect way for them because they deserve it. Since the first moment I came here I said that we have a talented and very young group. The results we had did not translate our quality and I knew sooner or later the results would come. Today was a good day.”
Having promised that the team would not suffer relegation upon his arrival last month, Tomás has played his part in Stuttgart taking seven points from their last three games, lifting them out of the relegation zone at a crucial moment of the season.
By Sean Gillen