Ermedin Demirovic unleashed a thunderbolt in the 90th minute to send Stuttgart into the top four with a 1-0 home win over Freiburg in the Bundesliga on Sunday.
RB Leipzig's home defeat by Mainz on Saturday left the door open for the German Cup holders climb into the Champions League places.
Das war's in Stuttgart!
— VfB Stuttgart 1893 (@VfB) February 1, 2026
Mit einem Traumtor von Ermedin #Demirovic in der 90. Minute sichert sich der VfB einen verdienten Sieg gegen den SC Freiburg.
Jungs, ihr seid einfach so stark 🤍❤️#VfB | #VfB1893 | #Bundesliga | #VfBSCF 1:0 (90.) | [Anzeige] Rewe pic.twitter.com/Xiv8MypYc5
Stuttgart were in complete control but were kept at bay until the final minute, when substitute Demirovic latched onto a Deniz Undav pass and hit a dipping effort just under the bar.
The win takes Stuttgart, who were drawn to face Scottish champions Celtic in the knockout play-off round of the Europa League on Friday, three points clear of Leipzig in fourth spot.
"What can you say?" Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeness told DAZN about Demirovic's goal. "It was beautiful. There were some other nice things, but the goal was simply world-class."
Stuttgart peppered Freiburg's goal in the opening half but somehow failed to break through.
Undav had a shot cleared off the line by defender Matthias Ginter before the half-hour and blasted wide minutes later with just goalkeeper Noah Atubolu to beat.
Atubolu kept Bilal El Khannouss out after the break while one-on-one with the Moroccan.
Demirovic, brought off the bench with 13 minutes remaining, took a touch from an Undav pass and fired Stuttgart in front. The goal was Demirovic's 50th in the Bundesliga but his first from outside the box.
Stuttgart 'keeper Alexander Nuebel ensured the hosts claimed all three points with a superb reflex save from Bruno Ogbus in stoppage time.
Later on Sunday, Borussia Dortmund can move six points behind leaders Bayern Munich, who drew 2-2 at Hamburg on Saturday, with a win at home over bottom club Heidenheim.