Bruno Labbadia screamed and gesticulated incessantly – but despite the impressive morale of his new charges, the coach still has to wait for the first win of his second term at VfB Stuttgart. At the end of the first half of the Bundesliga season, the Swabians managed to win 2-2 (1-1) in the Baden-Württemberg duel at TSG Hoffenheim after falling behind and with ten men.
With the draw, VfB has exacerbated the Kraichgauer crisis. Serhou Guirassy (45+5) and Wataru Endo (77) scored for Stuttgart (16 points), who last won at TSG almost ten years ago. The Stuttgart misery abroad is now taking on unbelievable proportions: VfB have been waiting for an away win for over 13 months.
The Hoffenheim team (19 points), who have fallen far short of expectations, have only scored two points in the past seven games and, like VfB, have to prepare for the relegation battle. The two goals by Andrej Kramaric (11th, 90th + 4) did not change that.
The 23,159 spectators in Sinsheim saw the first few minutes mixed up. Neither team did anything constructive. Bad passes and misunderstandings shaped what happened. The first successful action of the game gave Hoffenheim the lead through Kramaric after preparatory work from Angelino.
After falling behind, Stuttgart, who scored a point in Labbadia’s debut last Saturday against FSV Mainz 05 (1-1), tried to gain more control. The guests, who were missing Borna Sosa and Dan-Axel Zagadou, did not succeed on the offensive.
Hoffenheim equalizes late against VfB
Even after 25 minutes, the VfB fans who had traveled with them still hadn’t seen their team stand a chance. Hoffenheim, who had to do without Grischa Prömel, Jacob Bruun Larsen, Dennis Geiger and the suspended Ozan Kabak, had the game under control without much effort.
The lack of consistency from the hosts in the game kept VfB in the encounter. In the stoppage time of the first half, Stuttgart woke up from their lethargy. Silas Katompa Mvumpa created VfB’s first chance (45’+1′), Guirassy equalized shortly afterwards.
Both teams struggled with injuries early in the second half. The battered TSG defense chief Kevin Vogt stayed in the dressing room, his Stuttgart counterpart Konstantinos Mavropanos had to be treated for a laceration on his head for a long time. In the majority, Hoffenheim almost took the lead through Christoph Baumgartner (51st).
But the Stuttgart team, who have to start the second half of the season at RB Leipzig on Friday, also remained dangerous. After an hour, the game was on a knife edge. Then Endo scored first, Kramaric had the answer ready late.
TSG Hoffenheim – VfB Stuttgart: The voices of the game
Andre Breitenreiter (Hoffenheim coach): “We started the first half very well. The tactical plan worked perfectly. That was really good – until after a slight loss of possession it was 1-1 out of nowhere. Then you felt the uncertainty, but the team didn’t stop and believed in it.”
Bruno Labbadia (Stuttgart coach): “From our side we saw two different halves. In the first half we missed a few things. We didn’t find the means we had hoped. In the second half we showed a completely different face and turned the game.”
