Demirovic cancels out Stage's early strike as Stuttgart earn point to move fourth

[p]A slow start from the hosts was perhaps to be expected after they were taken all the way to extra-time on Thursday as they booked their place in a second successive DFB-Pokal final.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/werder-bremen/Ig1f1fy3/"]Bremen[/a] threatened to upset the odds and break the deadlock early, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lynen-senne/hIljeTIQ/"]Senne Lynen[/a] – who has never scored in 92 Bundesliga appearances – failed with two efforts before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stage-jens/jJ1sdqU7/"]Jens Stage[/a] looped a header wide of the far post.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/vfb-stuttgart/nJQmYp1B/"]Stuttgart[/a] failed to heed those warnings, and on 18 minutes, they could have little complaints at falling behind to the in-form Stage, who swept home a gorgeous first-time low finish from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sugawara-yukinari/f7AvlM2c/"]Yukinari Sugawara[/a]’s cutback.[/b][/p][p]Bremen goalkeeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/backhaus-mio/AquFxJsn/"]Mio Backhaus[/a] was busy in response, keeping out a powerful Bilal El Khannouss header before gathering [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mittelstadt-maximilian/x0JgoYBA/"]Maximilian Mittelstadt[/a]’s deflected free-kick.[/p][p]His most impressive work came in stoppage time to deny a curling Deniz Undav effort, moments after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/milosevic-jovan/0UNm3Uve/"]Jovan Milosevic[/a] squandered a big chance to double Bremen’s advantage when he curled wide after flooring [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zagadou-dan-axel/j1IjJkHI/"]Dan-Axel Zagadou[/a].[/p][image alt="Match stats" id="80a93c78-940c-4e39-b944-02cbf69bc47b" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="54ed6629-925e-4c19-abf9-2aeafe0be3e7" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Die Schwaben showed few signs of improvement in the second half’s early stages, prompting Sebastian Hoeneß to introduce [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fuhrich-chris/bczcNJFB/"]Chris Fuhrich[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/demirovic-ermedin/dIsZ5Eyb/"]Ermedin Demirovic[/a] from the bench.[/p][p][b]That proved a masterstroke, as within four minutes of his introduction, Demirovic headed in El Khannouss’ delivery to restore parity. [/b][/p][p]Die Werderaner’s attacking threat had largely disappeared since the restart, yet a huge chance to move back ahead passed them by when Stage could only tamely shoot straight at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nubel-alexander/Igk6vzlT/"]Alexander Nubel[/a] after being left unmarked inside the six-yard box.[/p][p]At the other end, Backhaus parried [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stiller-angelo/0hF2GIXS/"]Angelo Stiller[/a]’s free-kick away from danger as Bremen held on for a draw that sees them leapfrog three of their relegation rivals in the Bundesliga and lifts them six points clear of the bottom three.[/p][p]This represents their first point of the campaign against the current top five, while Stuttgart have now failed to win three of their last four league outings.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/el-khannous-bilal/Ui6gj3Cl/"]Bilal El Khannouss[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/vfb-stuttgart/nJQmYp1B/"]Stuttgart[/a])[/b][/p][image alt="Player ratings" id="80f0fb63-79ef-4af7-b91e-1798c58487d8" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="fcaa91bc-351c-4136-9c81-52c82fe336f1" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/stuttgart-nJQmYp1B/werder-bremen-Ig1f1fy3/?mid=UPVXbAA4"]Check out all the match stats here.[/a][/b][/p]