Everton's Wasteful Finishing Costs Them Against Stuttgart

Everton signed off their German tour with a 3-1 defeat to VfB Stuttgart at the MHPArena, a scoreline that felt both harsh and entirely self‑inflicted.

They created enough chances to win two friendlies. They left with another reminder of the one issue this squad cannot shake: nobody, right now, looks like a reliable finisher.

Bright start, brutal lesson

Jarrad Branthwaite, wearing the armband, led Everton out on a warm afternoon that quickly turned uncomfortable. Stuttgart settled first, keeping the ball and probing, forcing Branthwaite into an early recovery tackle to snuff out a dangerous break.

From that moment, the game opened up. Beto muscled his way forward on the counter but his heavy final touch allowed a defender to step in. It set the tone. Time and again, Everton worked good positions. Time and again, the last action betrayed them.

Hayden Hackney, starting in midfield, tried to force a high‑risk pass that was never on and Stuttgart pounced, driving at a back line in which O’Brien and Branthwaite were briefly paired together before injury intervened. Iroegbunam’s afternoon ended after 18 minutes, Michael Keane stepping in and reshaping the defence almost before it had settled.

Everton still had their moments. Carlos Alcaraz was gifted the ball by the Stuttgart goalkeeper, only for Beto to lash his shot well wide. A neat passing move then freed Hackney on the edge of the box; his low effort shaved the wrong side of the upright.

The warning signs at the other end had been flashing from the first whistle. Eventually, they blazed red. From sustained home pressure, Nartey stepped onto a loose ball and thumped it into the roof of the net, giving Mark Travers no chance and Stuttgart the lead their early control merited.

Chances everywhere, goals nowhere

The response was encouraging, the execution maddening.

Dibling, nervy early on, began to find pockets between the lines, driving into the area and appearing to be clipped, only for appeals to be waved away. Alcaraz burst clear and fizzed a low cross that flew just in front of Beto. Röhl, again deputising at right‑back, delivered a series of dangerous balls, only to watch them go untouched.

Then came the miss that will haunt Beto’s pre‑season. Travers launched long, Beto climbed superbly to flick on, Röhl read it, surged down the right and whipped the return across the six‑yard box. The striker swung… and connected with nothing but air. The goal was gaping, the chance astonishing. The ball rolled away, disbelief following it.

Everton kept coming. Dibling forced a low save at the near post. From the resulting corner, Beto climbed well but headed over when a glance might have sufficed. Alcaraz and Röhl continued to drive the visitors forward, only for the final touch to desert almost everyone in blue.

Stuttgart, by contrast, needed little invitation to remind Everton of their own ruthlessness. A rare foray ended with Mittelstädt smashing over from distance, before Travers produced the first of several outstanding interventions. From a corner, a powerful header arrowed towards the top corner; the goalkeeper sprang across to claw it away. Moments later he stuck out a foot to deny a low shot at the end of another slick move.

Everton still found time to squander another opening before the break, Beto again hesitating when released and allowing the defence to recover. By half-time, the game was frantic, competitive, and somehow still only 1-0.

It could easily have been 3-3.

Travers heroics and a soft lifeline

Alcaraz restarted the second half, but Stuttgart seized control. They carved out the early chances and Travers kept Everton in it, including one remarkable save on his own line after Alcaraz, tracking back, inadvertently headed the ball towards his own net from a corner.

Dibling, growing in confidence, carried the ball with more purpose, driving at defenders and slipping Röhl in down the right, only for the cross to fizzle out. Stuttgart struck the post with Travers beaten, another crisp move slicing Everton open.

At the other end, the pattern refused to change. A promising break ended with a dreadful cross from Vitalii Mykolenko. Keane sent a long ball towards Beto, who held off his man impressively, then rolled the ball straight to a defender. Armstrong was played in by Dibling but couldn’t force a corner.

On the hour, Stuttgart rang the changes, refreshing almost their entire outfield. The disruption suited neither side. Everton’s rhythm, such as it was, frayed. The hosts still found time to threaten from corners, one soft header drifting wide with substitute keeper King stranded after he replaced Travers on 76 minutes.

Then, out of almost nothing, Everton were handed a route back. A neat exchange released Beto through the middle. He leapt over the onrushing goalkeeper and went down under minimal contact. The penalty award was generous, but the striker did not blink from the spot, driving home on 72 minutes to level the game and finally, belatedly, put his name on the scoresheet.

Late changes, old problems

For a moment, the equaliser threatened to tilt the contest. Hackney threw himself into a crucial clearance as Stuttgart looked certain to score with another intricate move, the resulting header glancing off the top of King’s bar. King then made a routine stop from a wide effort, but the match had already begun to unravel under the weight of substitutions.

Ndiaye injected a little urgency, releasing Barry down the right, only for the youngster to find himself isolated and dispossessed. Branthwaite briefly caused concern when he grabbed at his leg, but after a chat with the physios he continued before eventually making way for Tarkowski on 80 minutes.

The game lost its shape. Stuttgart, though, retained enough cohesion to punish Everton’s sloppiness. A poor Keane clearance dropped straight to a home shirt, and the return came back with interest, the third goal swept in far too easily for Sean Dyche’s liking.

Everton still had chances in a chaotic finale. A late corner saw Keane’s header clawed off the line, Ndiaye’s follow-up blocked twice, one effort looking suspiciously close to crossing before it was hacked away. Another corner in a strangely extended period of added time ended with Dewsbury-Hall challenging for a header that bounced just wide.

The whistle eventually cut through the noise, ending a 3-1 defeat that could be spun as a “good workout” but offered a sharper truth.

The structure is improving. The work rate is there. Travers, in particular, emerged with credit. Yet the glaring issue up front remains, as stark as the scoreline. With the season fast approaching, Everton are still creating enough. The question that hangs over this squad is simple, and it grows louder with every missed chance: who is going to finish?