Stuttgart Defeats Everton 3-1 in Pre-Season Finale
Everton’s pre-season trip to Germany closed with a familiar, nagging theme: plenty of industry, flashes of promise, and a brutal lack of composure where it matters most.
At the MHPArena, VfB Stuttgart won 3-1, but the scoreline only tells half the story. Everton carved out enough chances to leave with a comfortable victory. Instead, they flew home with a lesson in ruthlessness.
Branthwaite leads, Stuttgart strike
Jarrad Branthwaite, captain’s armband on, led Everton out for their second and final game of the tour, with Hayden Hackney handed a start in midfield and Tim Rohl again filling in at right-back. There was no sign of new signing Christian Norgaard, who had not joined up with the squad in Germany, while James Garner remained sidelined after minor groin surgery.
Stuttgart started sharper. They kept the ball, probed patiently, and forced Branthwaite into early rescue work, the centre-back snuffing out one particularly dangerous move before Beto muscled his way upfield at the other end, only to let the ball run away at the crucial moment.
O’Brien was forced to concede a corner that almost punished Everton, the final effort skimming wide from a tight angle. Lewis Dobbin – here operating as Dibling – carried the ball forward a couple of times but looked short of conviction.
Hackney, eager to play on the front foot, tried to force a pass that was never really on. Stuttgart snapped it up and countered again, although by the 10-minute mark Everton had at least begun to see more of the ball.
They were then handed a gift. Carlos Alcaraz latched onto a loose ball from the Stuttgart goalkeeper and slipped in Beto, but the striker dragged his shot horribly wide. It became a pattern: Everton winning turnovers in midfield, then promptly giving the ball back.
When they did knit passes together, they cut through. A neat move worked the ball to Hackney, whose low effort shaved the wrong side of the far post. It felt like a warning for Stuttgart. Instead, it was the prelude to their opener.
From the moment the hosts kicked off, they had hinted at a goal. It arrived when Nartey stormed onto a loose ball and thumped a rising drive into the roof of the net, giving Mark Travers no chance.
Chances come. Finishes don’t.
Early disruption followed for Everton. Iroegbunam appeared to pick up an injury and was replaced by Michael Keane, cutting short the fledgling O’Brien–Branthwaite partnership in central defence.
Dibling drove into the box and looked to have been fouled, but the referee waved play on. Stuttgart broke away and fired well off target. Branthwaite then sparked a break from nowhere, Alcaraz leading the charge and Rohl seeing his shot blocked.
Beto attempted an acrobatic bicycle kick that never looked likely to connect. Moments later, Alcaraz burst free down the flank and whipped in a low, fast cross that Beto was a stud’s length away from turning in.
Dibling’s delivery from the left improved slightly, but his cross lacked the power to trouble Stuttgart, who headed clear with ease. Everton were now creating in waves. The problem was the final act.
Dibling again got into a good area, delayed his cross by a heartbeat, and saw Alcaraz’s shot smothered by a defender. Rohl then dropped a superb ball onto Beto, who, instead of pulling the trigger, tried to find Dibling at the far post. The winger never had a chance of reaching it.
The miss of the match followed. Travers launched long, Beto flicked on brilliantly to Rohl, who returned the cross perfectly. Beto, unmarked and six yards out, swung and connected with nothing but air. It looked harder to miss.
Everton kept coming. Rohl found Dibling, whose low shot forced a smart stop at the near post. From the resulting corner, Dibling’s delivery was on the money, but Beto climbed and powered his header over when a glancing touch was all that was needed.
Stuttgart reminded Everton that they were still a threat. Mittelstädt hammered a rising effort over the bar from distance, and another move brought a corner that Keane did well to block.
From that set piece, a towering header arrowed towards the top corner, only for Travers to fling himself across and claw it away. The goalkeeper then stuck out a boot to deny a low shot after more incisive home attacking.
Everton responded again on the break. Alcaraz released Rohl, but his attempted pass to Beto was overhit and the chance died. Armstrong, by contrast, timed a superb tackle at the other end to snuff out another Stuttgart surge. Rohl continued to raid down the right but still couldn’t pick out Beto.
One final break before the interval saw Beto in space, only for him to hesitate, check back, and allow the defence to regroup. The half-time whistle came with Everton trailing 1-0 in a game they could, with even modest finishing, have been leading comfortably.
Travers heroics, Beto from the spot
Alcaraz restarted the game with Everton unchanged, but Stuttgart immediately ramped up the tempo. Travers stayed sharp, producing more strong saves, including one from an Alcaraz defensive header that almost looped into his own net from a corner.
Dibling began the half with more purpose, driving forward, but Beto found himself crowded out by two defenders. A Keane foul allowed Stuttgart to advance again, and Dibling’s next foray ended with a delayed lay-off that killed the move.
When he did release it quickly, Dibling slipped a neat ball into Rohl’s path, only for the cross to fizzle out. The winger then pinched possession and won a free-kick, which Everton promptly played backwards, losing any momentum. Stuttgart went straight up the pitch and cracked a shot off the post with Travers beaten.
Everton’s delivery remained erratic. A promising move down the left was wasted by a poor cross from Vitalii Mykolenko. Keane then picked out Beto with a long pass, but the striker worked hard only to lay the ball straight to a defender.
Dibling combined with Armstrong, who couldn’t force a corner, and Stuttgart answered with a spell of slick, one-touch passing that brought only a corner of their own. It signalled a raft of changes for the hosts on the hour.
They then had to deal with a couple of Everton corners, the second producing a tame header with substitute keeper King stranded.
Everton’s own changes followed. Ndiaye injected more tempo, releasing Barry down the right, though he soon ran out of options and lost the ball. There was a brief scare when Branthwaite clutched at his thigh – or possibly his knee – but after treatment he insisted he was fine.
The visitors finally got their reward with 18 minutes left. A neat exchange in the final third sent Beto surging into the box. He flew over the onrushing goalkeeper and, to Stuttgart’s disbelief, the referee pointed to the spot. It was soft. Beto didn’t argue. He stepped up and buried the penalty to level at 1-1.
Late goals, lingering concerns
Stuttgart reacted, knitting together another sharp move that ended with a header brushing the top of King’s bar. The Everton keeper then dealt comfortably with a shot from a wide angle.
As both managers emptied their benches, the game lost shape. Passes went astray, pressing dropped, and Stuttgart’s attacks became more sporadic but no less dangerous. One of them punished a poor Keane clearance, the ball coming straight back and being finished far too easily for the hosts’ third.
Everton still had chances to narrow the scoreline. Deep into an oddly long period of stoppage time – close to 10 minutes – a corner found Keane, whose header was saved on the line. Ndiaye’s follow-up efforts were twice blocked, one possibly over the line, but no goal was given.
Another late corner saw Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall attack the ball, only to see his header bounce just wide. When the whistle finally went, Everton had their “good workout” – but also a glaring reminder of the problem that has stalked them for too long.
The structure looks clearer. The press is sharper. The young faces are bedding in. Yet in front of goal, the same question hangs in the air: who is going to finish all of this off when the real stuff starts?
