Ibisevic puts Stuttgart past Dynamo

Moscow, Aug 29 (IANS/RIA Novosti): Vedad Ibisevic made the difference again with a goal as VfB Stuttgart reached the Europa League group stage with a 3-1 aggregate win over Dynamo Moscow, after a fiercely-contested 1-1 draw in the second leg win in Russia.

Ibisevic, who scored both goals in Stuttgart last week against a defensive Dynamo side, struck again in the 64th minute, picking up Christian Gentner’s long pass to go one-on-one with Dynamo goalkeeper Anton Shunin, whom he beat with a powerful finish Tuesday.

Alexander Kokorin gave the battling Dynamo a consolation in the 78th minute after a Vladimir Granat cross found Pavel Nyakhaychyk at the far post and the Belarusian set up Kokorin to finish from point-blank range.

Dynamo went into the match needing at least a 2-0 win to have any hope of staying in the tie.

“Of course, we wanted to win. We wanted to go further in the competition,” Dynamo coach Dan Petrescu said.

“The guys gave all their strength. Of course, you need luck too.”