Kramarić rescues point against Stuttgart

TSG Hoffenheim rescued a last-minute 2-2 (1-1) draw against VfB Stuttgart. Andrej Kramarić fired TSG ahead on 11 minutes, only for Serhou Guirassy to level on the stroke of half-time (45+5). Stuttgart grew stronger in the second half and Wataru Endo completed the turnaround for the visitors (77), who had a player sent off. In the closing stages, coach André Breitenreiter's team initially toiled in vain before Kramarić popped up again with a stunning strike to salvage a point (90+4).

The scenario:

TSG went into the match in 13th position and on 18 points, with 16th-placed Stuttgart three points behind.

The line-up:

André Breitenreiter made four changes to the starting XI that suffered defeat away to Union Berlin last time out (3-1). Pavel Kadeřábek started in place of Kevin Akpoguma (bench), Kevin Vogt replaced Ozan Kabak (suspended), Sebastian Rudy came in for Dennis Geiger (injured) and Andrej Kramarić began instead of Tom Bischof (bench).

Number of the game: 5

The two strikes from Andrej Kramarić were his fourth and fifth goals of the Bundesliga season. That puts him top of the TSG scoring charts.

Moment of the match:

The 2-2: TSG's efforts appeared to be in vain and all the signs pointed to a defeat, but Andrej Kramarić had something to say about that. He cut into the box from the right in the fourth minute of stoppage time and curled the ball left-footed into the top corner. The stunning strike salvaged TSG a point.   

Emotional farewell:

It got emotional at the PreZero Arena approximately 15 minutes before kick-off. Benjamin Hübner, who was forced to hang up his boots over the winter break, came onto the pitch and the fans bade him a vocal farewell.

Outlook:

The next Bundesliga home game takes place on Saturday. TSG will host Borussia Mönchengladbach in the opening round of the second half-season at 15:30 CET.

Stats:

Line-ups:

TSG Hoffenheim: Baumann – Kadeřábek, Vogt (Dabbur, 46), Nsoki – Skov (Akpoguma, 28), Rudy (Bischof, 82), Stiller (Damar, 76), Angeliño – Baumgartner – Bebou (Dolberg, 82), Kramarić

VfB Stuttgart: Müller – Anton, Mavropanos, Ito, Nartey – Karazor – Endo, Ahamada – Silas (Perea, 58), Tiago Tomas (Führich, 34) – Guirassy (Vagnoman, 85)

Goals: 1-0 Kramaric (11), 1-1 Guirassy (45+5), 1-2 Endo (77), 2-2 Kramarić (90+4)

Red cards: Ahamada (78)