Vedad Ibisevic made the difference again with a goal as VfB Stuttgart reached the Europa League group stage with a 3-1 aggregate win over Dynamo Moscow, after a fiercely-contested 1-1 draw in the second leg win in Russia.
Ibisevic scored both goals in Stuttgart last week against a defensive Dynamo side and he struck again on 64 minutes, picking up Christian Gentner’s long pass to go one-on-one with Dynamo goalkeeper Anton Shunin, whom he beat with a powerful finish.
Alexander Kokorin gave battling Dynamo a consolation on 78 minutes after a Vladimir Granat cross found Pavel Nyakhaychyk at the far post and the Belarusian set up Kokorin to finish from point-blank range.
Dynamo went into the match needing at least a 2-0 win to have any hope of staying in the tie, and made Stuttgart work hard not to concede.
"Of course we wanted to win, we wanted to go further in the competition," Dynamo coach Dan Petrescu said.
"The guys gave all their strength. Of course, you need luck too."
On three minutes, Kevin Kuranyi made a statement of intent for Dynamo when he sent a bouncing shot wide, before Ecuador midfielder Christian Noboa fired wide from range shortly after.
On 14 minutes, Kokorin seized on a defensive lapse to work his way through the Stuttgart defense, but his eventual shot was wayward and blocked. He then shot wide two minutes later.
Stuttgart came into the match on 22 minutes when a precise long ball freed Vedad Ibisevic to charge into the Dynamo box on the break, but he stumbled as he prepared to shoot. The ball fell to Shinji Okazaki, but his low shot was straight at Dynamo goalkeeper Anton Shunin.
Five minutes passed before Okazaki threatened again, this time sending a low cross to Martin Harnik, whose shot beat Shunin but cannoned off the inside of the post and clear.
Just before the break, Dynamo had a penalty shout turned down when Kokorin fell in the box while battling Francisco Rodriguez for the ball.
Dynamo hit the woodwork within a minute of the restart when Noboa sent a looping volley against the bar. Stuttgart goalkeeper Sven Ulreich punched away the rebound, but only as far as Balazs Dzsudzsak, whose follow-up was weak.
There were few clear-cut chances in the second half other than those that led to the goals. Dynamo kept fighting after Kokorin pulled one back, but needed to find three more goals in 10 minutes, a feat that was far beyond Dan Petrescu’s men.
Zvjezdan Misimovic missed with a long shot with the last kick of the game.
