Huhkajie’s goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky was the key player for Leverkusen when the Bundesliga’s top team rose to a 1-1 away draw in Stuttgart in the second half.
Lukas Hradecky was the man on the spot in the first half as VfB Stuttgart showed why they had won their previous five Bundesliga matches.
VfB Stuttgart took the shots on goal 10–1 in the opening half – with a goal expectancy of 3.32 – and without Hradecky’s two parade saves, the team in third place in the Bundesliga would have easily run away to a three-goal lead. Now it got to the break “only” with a 1-0 lead. Stuttgart totaled 18 shots for the opening period – the first time since 2007.
Hradecky’s biggest star moments came in the 17th and 25th minutes. The Finn stopped Stuttgart’s leading men first Denis Undavin by throwing himself into the back corner and then made a great reaction save with his leg to block Serhou Guirassyn scoring from the middle sector in a one-on-one situation.
Hradecky couldn’t do anything about the rebound goal. Chris Fuerich was able to shoot from the back area completely freely, from about six meters in the 40th minute of the 1–0 goal match by Josha Vagnoman great preliminary work.
In a two-part match, Leverkusen dominated the second half, hit the post and made a 1-1 draw, which was completed by Wirtz of Florida right after the break.
– Stuttgart was superior in the first half. They have a top team, so we will take a point from this. The opening half was our weakest of the whole early season, Hradecky thinks.
Leverkusen remain the only unbeaten team in the league and lead the league with four points ahead of Bayern Munich, who have played one game less and have taken the eleven most recent Bundesliga titles.
Xabi Alonso led by Leverkusen has won eleven games in 14 league matches and played three draws against the Bundesliga’s elite teams (Bayern 2–2, Dortmund 1–1 and Stuttgart 1–1).
The match was Leverkusen’s 22nd consecutive undefeated streak this season, considering all leagues. On Sunday, Leverkusen looked like a tired team for the first time since the beginning of the season. Without Hradecky’s excellent goalkeeping performances in the first half, it would very likely have lost the match.
On Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s website, Hradecky has gathered about 50 percent of all votes in the “voting for the best player” and is the clear number one player.
Before the Bundesliga winter break, Leverkusen will still face Eintracht Frankfurt on the 17th and Bochum on the 20th in their home matches. Series table here