Everton's Defeat in Stuttgart: A Missed Opportunity

Everton walked off the pitch in Stuttgart with a familiar feeling gnawing away at them. A 3-1 defeat on the scoreboard, but the real damage lay elsewhere – in the catalogue of missed chances that turned a useful workout into a worrying reminder of an old, stubborn flaw.

This was a game Everton could have had wrapped up before half-time. Instead, VfB Stuttgart were ruthless where the visitors were erratic, finishing their pre-season meeting at the MHPArena with a scoreline that flattered neither Everton’s approach play nor their generosity in front of goal.

Bright start, blunt edge

Jarrad Branthwaite, wearing the armband, led Everton out for the second match of their German tour, with Hayden Hackney handed a start in midfield and Lukas Röhl again asked to plug the gap at right-back. There was no sign of new signing Christian Nørgaard, who had not joined up with the squad, while James Garner remained sidelined after minor groin surgery.

Stuttgart settled quicker, keeping the ball and forcing Everton to chase. Branthwaite had to step in early to snuff out a dangerous move, and from there Beto tried to set the tone, bullying his way upfield before a heavy touch let a defender in.

The warning signs at the other end came quickly. Lewis O’Brien conceded a corner that almost brought the opener, the final effort flashing wide from a tight angle. Tom Dibling, tentative at first, carried the ball forward without ever truly looking in control.

Hackney then tried to force a pass that was never really on, and Stuttgart broke again, though by the 10-minute mark Everton had at least begun to see more of the ball.

They were gifted their first clear opening when a loose ball from the Stuttgart goalkeeper landed at Carlos Alcaraz’s feet. He found Beto, but the striker dragged his shot well wide. Everton started to win turnovers in midfield, only to keep handing the ball back with sloppy use in transition.

A slick move finally gave Hackney a sight of goal, his low effort skidding just wide of the far post. It felt like a turning point. Instead, the pressure told at the other end. From the edge of the area, Clinton Nartey stepped in and thumped a rising drive into the roof of Mark Travers’s net, a finish that left the Everton goalkeeper helpless.

Chances everywhere, finish nowhere

Everton’s afternoon took another early twist when Tim Iroegbunam was forced off after just 18 minutes, Michael Keane coming on and ending the fledgling O’Brien–Branthwaite central partnership.

There was frustration when Dibling appeared to be fouled on the edge of the Stuttgart box with nothing given, and it almost got worse as the hosts broke away and lashed a shot high and wide.

Branthwaite then sparked a counter from nothing, driving out from the back to release Alcaraz. Röhl’s effort was blocked, and Beto, increasingly desperate to make an impact, attempted an acrobatic bicycle kick that never threatened.

Alcaraz began to find pockets of space and whipped in a low, rapid cross that Beto was a stud’s length away from converting. Dibling improved as the half wore on, but his final ball repeatedly let him down – a floated cross lacking pace, another delayed just long enough for a defender to recover.

The theme became relentless. Röhl picked out Beto with a superb pass, but instead of shooting, the striker chose to send a cross towards the back post. It sailed beyond Dibling, who had no chance of reaching it.

Then came the miss that summed up Everton’s day. Travers launched long, Beto rose brilliantly to flick on, Röhl returned the favour with a perfect cross, and Beto swung at fresh air with the goal gaping. It looked harder to miss.

Dibling forced a low save at the near post after another Röhl cross, then delivered a fine corner that Beto headed over when the slightest glance might have done.

Stuttgart reminded Everton of their own threat when Maximilian Mittelstädt hammered over from distance, and a flurry of set-pieces followed. From one corner, a towering header seemed destined for the top corner until Travers flung himself across his goal to claw it away. He followed that with a sharp save low down, sticking out a foot to deny another Stuttgart effort during a strong spell for the hosts.

Everton still carved out moments. Alcaraz released Röhl again on the right, but the cross failed to find Beto. The striker then broke clear once more, only to check back inexplicably and allow the chance to evaporate. The half-time whistle arrived with Everton a goal down but with enough missed opportunities to fill a highlight reel.

Stuttgart tighten the screw

Alcaraz restarted the second half with Everton unchanged, yet it was Stuttgart who seized control. Travers stayed busy, making a series of smart stops, including one from his own team-mate when Alcaraz’s defensive header from a corner almost crept over the line.

Dibling started to show more conviction, driving forward and trying to commit defenders, but Beto found himself smothered between two centre-backs. A Keane foul invited more Stuttgart pressure, and although Dibling kept trying to knit attacks together, his lay-offs were often a beat too slow.

A sharper move saw Dibling slide a neat ball into Röhl, only for the cross to fizzle out. Dibling then stole possession and won a free-kick, but Everton chose the safe option and went backwards. Stuttgart responded with a crisp move that ended in a fierce strike against the post, Travers beaten for once but spared by the woodwork.

Everton’s own delivery deserted them again when Vitalii Mykolenko overhit a promising cross, and a fine long pass from Keane to Beto was wasted when the forward laid it straight to a defender.

Dibling slipped Armstrong into space on the left, yet the winger couldn’t force a corner, and Stuttgart’s response was a spell of sharp, one-touch football that brought a corner and, on the hour, a wave of substitutions from the home side.

Everton then had to survive a pair of corners of their own, the second producing a tame header with substitute goalkeeper João King stranded but unpunished.

Beto from the spot, but Stuttgart stay ruthless

The visitors finally found a way onto the scoresheet in controversial fashion. Amadou Ndiaye released Lewis Barry quickly down the right, only for the winger to run out of options and lose the ball. Moments later, Beto chased a through ball, flew over the onrushing goalkeeper and somehow earned a very soft penalty. He dusted himself down and converted from the spot on 72 minutes, a composed finish that stood in stark contrast to his earlier misses.

Stuttgart responded with another slick move, Hackney forced into a desperate clearance with the hosts queuing up. Everton shuffled their pack again, with King replacing Travers and more changes from the bench, but the pattern grew scrappy.

Stuttgart still found their rhythm often enough to worry the visitors. One flowing attack ended with a header brushing the top of King’s crossbar, another with a routine save from a wide angle. Everton’s structure loosened as the substitutions piled up, and the game lost its earlier coherence.

Stuttgart, though, stayed clinical. A poor clearance from Keane invited pressure straight back onto the Everton box, and the hosts walked in their third, the finish far too easy for a defence that had switched off.

Late flurry, same old concern

There was still time for late drama. A deep corner found Keane, whose header was clawed off the line. Ndiaye’s follow-up was blocked twice, with one effort possibly crossing the line before being hacked clear, but no goal was given.

Another corner arrived deep into an oddly long 10 minutes of added time, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall rising to meet the delivery and watching his header bounce just wide.

The whistle eventually cut through the chaos, closing a match that gave Everton plenty of running, plenty of patterns, and almost no comfort where it really matters. They leave Germany with minutes in the legs, a penalty on the board for Beto, and a glaring issue still staring them in the face.

Pre-season or not, how long can they keep wasting this many chances?