Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel has hailed his team for clinically burying their chances against Stuttgart in the Bundesliga and coming away with a crucial 2-0 victory.
Substitutes Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt were on target for the Black and Yellows in stoppage-time as Dortmund consolidated their position in second place of the Bundesliga table.
Winless in their last seven games against Die Roten, Kovac's side were on again struggling to bring their best at the MHP Arena as the match remained scoreless for most of the time.
But the Croatian, as we've seen a few times before this, made some vital changes to his side midway through the second half that pumped Dortmund up and got them over the line.
In the 94th minute with the final whistle fast approaching, Brandt scampered up the right flank and sent in a looping cross which a Stuttgart defender attempted to clear, but it fell to Adeyemi.
The German neatly controlled the ball and smashed one in to break the deadlock while Brandt popped up with a second soon after with a stunning effort.
Kobel, who was in goal for Dortmund and picked up his 13th league clean sheet of the season, rued a rather cagey display from his side which he felt was down to a two-week long international break.
"“I don’t know if it’s down to the international break, where you play different systems and need a bit of time to settle back in here.” "said Kobel
Having gone their last seven games against Stuttgart without a defeat, Dortmund seemed like heading towards another winless match on Saturday.
The side were lacking in their usual attacking flair as they struggled to create goalscoring chances with Stuttgart holding things tightly at the back.
It was only after Kovac introduced Adeyemi, Brandt and Fabio Silva that the BVB gathered steam and started to open up Stuttgart before eventually netting twice.
Kobel hailed his side for dispatching their chances late on.
"“We took our chances ruthlessly. In the end, it’s three points away from home against a very good opponent in a difficult match.”"added the Swiss international
With a first win over Stuttgart since October 2022, Der BVB moved 11 points clear of them and RB Leipzig and inched further closer to securing a Champions League place next season.
Borussia Dortmund next play Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on Saturday, 11 April.