Demirovic's double gives Stuttgart the away win they badly needed

VfB Stuttgart left Bayer Leverkusen with a 4-2 win on Saturday, and Ermedin Demirović was the clearest reason why. He scored twice, in the 14th and 65th minutes, as Stuttgart turned a difficult early-season mood into one big away result. They led 2-1 at half-time, then found two more goals through Bilal El Khannouss and Demirovic before Leverkusen's late reply.

Demirovic's brace was the headline, but Stuttgart's attack had more range than it has shown too often this season. Jamie Leweling scored in the 22nd minute, El Khannouss added the third in the 51st, and Stuttgart kept answering whenever Leverkusen threatened to pull the game back toward them.

Demirovic gave Stuttgart the edge

The first goal set the tone. Mark Flekken denied El Khannouss, but Demirovic reacted first to score the opener, and Stuttgart had something to protect straight away. Leweling then made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute before Patrik Schick pulled one back for Leverkusen in the 28th.

That scoreline still left the game open, especially because Leverkusen pushed Stuttgart back before the break. Stuttgart survived that spell, though, and the third goal mattered a lot more than the fourth. El Khannouss scored in the 51st minute to restore breathing space, and Demirovic's second in the 65th gave Stuttgart proper control.

He now has 5 Bundesliga goals in 8 appearances this season, which gives this display a bit more weight than a one-off cup-tie type of explosion. One match does not settle Stuttgart's season, but their striker is producing at a level that can change how they look week to week.

Stuttgart's attack kept finding the right answer

This was not a match where Stuttgart coasted. Leverkusen kept pushing and made the game messy enough to test them. Ibrahim Maza scored the home side's second goal in the 79th minute, but by then Stuttgart had already done the hard work with their finishing.

There was a nasty edge in the middle of the first half too. The flashpoint came in the 39th minute after several hard challenges and a tackle against Afonso Moreira. Referee Benjamin Brand showed four yellow cards during the melee, with Jeff Chabot and Facundo Medina central to the confrontation.

That phase could easily have dragged Stuttgart into the kind of emotional game Leverkusen wanted. Instead, they regained focus and stayed clinical. Leweling also hit the crossbar in the 44th minute, while Maza struck the bar in the 33rd, so there were moments when the game could have tilted further either way.

The result matters more than the style right now

Deniz Undav, quoted in German by SPORT1, said: "We can gather confidence through results and then we will play better football again."

That sounds like an honest reading of where Stuttgart are. This win should be treated as a confidence boost, not proof that every early issue has gone away. Still, winning 4-2 away at Leverkusen after a shaky start is a serious response, and Demirovic was at the centre of it.

The official record of Bayer Leverkusen vs VfB Stuttgart will show a 4-2 away win after a 2-1 half-time lead, with goals from Demirovic, Leweling and El Khannouss giving Stuttgart the result Undav said they needed.