Borussia Dortmund player ratings from a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Stuttgart | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund lost to Stuttgart 2-1 in one more Bundesliga defeat in front of the Yellow Wall facing a top-four candidate. The match marked Niko Kovač's debut as BVB's head coach, but his spell at the club did not start in grand fashion. The Black-and-Yellows even behaved well in the first half, especially defensively, in a half with chances for both sides.

The second half started promising, with two runs from Karim Adeyemi to the byline that should have been capitalized. However, football is relentless, and after wasting two clear goal-scoring chances in a row, Stuttgart opened the scoreboard with Waldemar Anton's own goal. The "Law of the Exes" was reversed for the former Stuttgart defender.

Following Stuttgart's opening goal, the momentum shifted, and the visitors took their chance to score their second in a play originated from a Guirassy mistake and a poorly set defensive system. Brandt discounted later in the match, and BVB attempted to get fans' hopes back up.

However, even though Dortmund had most of the possession for the last 20 to 30 minutes, Niko Kovač's late substitutions and Ryerson's controversial second yellow card stopped the Black-and-Yellows from any attempted reaction. But, even with the referee's incredibly frustrating performance, Dortmund could have done better with their wasted opportunities. At the same time, key mistakes cost a match against a Stuttgart side playing below its capacity. Here are the player ratings from Dortmund's 2-1 loss to Stuttgart: