Hamburger SV missed the chance to win a fourth home game in a row, despite Stuttgart having to play a large part of the second-half with ten men. Florian Klein's goal towards the end of the first-half was enough to move the visitors off the bottom and level with HSV.
Both teams exchanged chances in the opening period, with Martin Harnik and a scramble from a HSV corner almost resulting in early goals. Georg Niedermeier had his header cleared off the line, in a first half that was largely in favour of the Swabians. So when Florian Klein scored after a poor attempt at defending from Valon Behrami, there were little complaints. The Austrian's goal was timely and hugely vital for the visitors to capitalise on a solid first-half.
The second-half saw Niedermeier sent-off with thirty-seven minutes remaining. It seemed like a harsh decision after he came together with Artjoms Rudnevs, especially with Gotoku Sakai covering. From the resulting costless-kick, Rafael van der Vaart smashed the crossbar, with Sven Ulreich praying it wouldn't ripple the back of the net.
The Dutch midfielder continued to force the issue, as Ulreich produced a fine save from his low effort. Despite dominating the second-half, the Stuttgart defence remained extremely resilient and managed to hold out for an incredibly important three points. It moved them off the bottom of the table and into fifteenth, while HSV remain a place above. VfB host Paderborn in their final game of the year, while HSV travel to Gelsenkirchen.