VfB's perfect form in the Rückrunde continued as they defeated Karlsruher SC 2-0 in the Baden-Württembergischen derby at Wildparkstadion. Following the midweek defeat in the UEFA Cup Markus Babbel made a number of changes to his starting lineup including Schwaben debuts for nineteen year-old Timo Gebhart and Georg Niedermeier.KSC's tough demeanor shone brightly as VfB's scoring chances were limited before the half hour mark. However in the final fifteen minutes both Ciprian Marica and Martin Lanig hammered their offerings off the post and the match was deadlocked at the break. However five minutes after the restart Mario Gómez linked up with Marica who then crossed to Élson at the far post, which he finished with precision. KSC came storming back but Jens Lehmann laid down the law and wouldn't let an attempt by him. Finally, with only two minutes remaining, Sami Khedira scored after collecting a rebound of his own effort and made no mistakes with the second opportunity, bringing the match to a final 2-0 score.
Following the match Markus Babbel noted his pleasure with the match:
"I'm highly satisfied with the result. I also think we deserved the win. We had problems at the beginning and weren't really fresh. In the second half we then played to our strengths and were technically better. Following a tough UEFA Cup game against Zenit St. Petersburg on Thursday night, the lads battled their way into this game and earned themselves the three points."
Photo credit: VfB Stuttgart
