Silas Wamangituka scored twice – and literally walked the ball into the goal – as promoted Stuttgart continued its impressive return to the Bundesliga with a 2-1 win over Werder Bremen on Monday (AEDT).
Bremen gave winger Tahith Chong, on loan from Manchester United, his first league start since October 31, but his main contribution was to give away the penalty that helped to decide the game.
Chong tripped Stuttgart's Japanese midfielder Wataru Endo in the penalty area and the referee needed little time in awarding the spot-kick. Wamangituka sent goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka the wrong way and hit the ball into the top-left of the net.
Wamangituka made it 2-0 in added time when he intercepted a back pass from Ömer Toprak, rounded the goalkeeper and walked the ball towards the empty net at a deliberately slow pace; making the keeper chase him before he thumped the ball home from point blank range.
That earned Wamangituka a yellow card for apparent unsporting behaviour and angered Bremen forward Davie Selke, who interrupted Wamangituka's celebrations with an heated confrontation and later slammed the forward's actions.
"The way he finished was obviously disrespectful. He had a very good game and he should just tap the ball in, and not make a song and dance about it," Selke said.
Selke headed in a goal for Bremen soon after the game restarted, but there was no time to chase an equaliser.
Stuttgart moved to eighth place with the win, bouncing back from a 3-1 loss to Bayern Munich last week, and kept up its record of scoring in every league game since its return to the German top flight. Bremen dropped to 12th.
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