Stuttgart welcomed high flying Hannover to the Mercedes Benz Arena for this Matchday 6 clash. The hosts are still looking for their first win and would be bottom if it weren't for an even worst start from Bundesliga dinosaurs, Hamburg. Hannover meanwhile have started well and sit in 5th place with 10 points. In the midst of boardroom turmoil, The Stuttgart faithful would be hoping today would see their first win of the campaign, coming off the back of a creditable 2-2 draw in Dortmund. In the same Matchday, Hannover had come away with a 1-0 victory at home to new boys Köln.
Under pressure manager, Armin Veh made one change with Goalkeeper Thorsten Kirschbaum replacing Sven Ulreich. Tayfun Korkut also made one change with Manuel Schmiedebach coming in for Jimmy Briand. In the absence of Hannover ultras, who are boycotting first team matches, the Stuttgart fans created a superb atmosphere which made for a great occasion.
It was for the most part, a largely uneventful first half with only a few chances for either side. Hiroshi Kiyotake had the best for Hannover, with a jinking run past the Stuttgart defence but he could put his shot into the side netting. Former team-mate of Kiyotake, Daniel Didavi was arguably the best player in the first half and it was his creativeness that looked to be the only outlet for a Stuttgart goal. It was that man, who's in great form, who had Stutttgart's best chance of the first half. A powerful run and eventual shot troubled Zieler momentarily. Manuel Schmiedebach spotted Stuttgart keeper, Thorsten Kirschbaum, off his line but his cheeky effort eventually drifted hopelessly wide.
The second half started in the same fashoin as the first, a lot of possession for both sides but neither doing anything with it. Around the 60th minute a great through ball from Kiyotake allowed Leonardo Bittencourt to burst through down the right flank. He picked out Schmiedebach but he could only blaze over. This chance seemed to spark the game into life and the deadlock was broken in the 69th minute. A out-swinging corner was flicked on by Christian Gentner and then in came Daniel Schwaab to send the ball goa-lbound. Ron Robert Zieler appeared to have stopped the ball going over the line, but later inspection showed that the ball did infact cross the line.
Following the goal, Hannover pilled on the pressure and after some incisive play down the right Kiyotake squared for Joselu who's goal-bound shot was blocked by the Stuttgart defence. Leon Andreasen's snap shot was easily saved by Kirschbaum in the hosts net in a later attack. The home side controlled the match in the latter stages, and could have added to their lead after some neat play by Serbian, Filip Kostic but the eventual chance lead to nothing.
There was some pressure from the side from Lower Saxony but it resulted in nothing. Stuttgart held on for the win, and pick up their first 3 points of the season. The result sees Stuttgart climb to mid table, whilst the visitors drop to sixth. This surely sees some of the pressure on Armin Veh lifted and the experienced manager will be hoping his side can now push on from this win. You could see at the final whistle how much this result meant to Veh.