Frankfurt travelled to the Mercedes-Benz Arena hopeful of moving closer to the European places and when Haris Seferovic struck early in the second-half, it looked like they'd do just that. However, a Daniel Ginczek brace and Alexandru Maxim's late third brought them back to earth with a bump and Stuttgart within touching distance of safety.
Things were beginning to look bleak at the bottom for Stuttgart. Another defeat, this time a 4-0 hammering in Leverkusen, left them three points from safety. Martin Harnik, Timo Baumgartl and Adam Hlousek came in for Filip Kostic, Daniel Schwaab and Gotoku Sakai respectively, as Huub Stevens looked for an immediately response.
Thomas Schaaf and his men were continuing their march towards a European place. They recorded a four-nil win over SC Paderborn and they, as expected, made no changes to that side.
The visitors almost took a freak lead within sixty seconds, as Baumgartl's clearance cannoned off Alexander Meier but it drifted just over the helpless Sven Ulreich's bar. Unsurprisingly Schaaf's side were dominating early on and Haris Seferovic sent a volley just over the bar.
Stuttgart had barely touched the ball and it looked like they'd be in for yet another defeat. Meier nearly gave the Eagles the lead, though Ulreich applied just enough pressure to put him off.
When they finally did get on the ball, the hosts seemed eager to force the ball through gaps that weren't there. Alexandru Maxim especially was guilty of several misplaced passes in his attempts to find Daniel Ginczek.
Meier's third headed chance of the game was his best yet and also his closest. The Bundesliga top-scorer met Takashi Inui's corner, but his header crashed against the post. That was the final opportunity of the half, in which Frankfurt would have been disappointed not to have taken the lead.
They didn't have to wait long, however, as Seferovic struck minutes after the restart. Some fantastic, driving play from Bastian Oczipka led him past a series of week challenges to chip back across to the Swiss striker, who emphatically finished and gave his side the lead.
The hosts were immediately dealt a further blow and promising youngster Timo Werner had to be replaced by Filip Kostic, after he picked up a nasty looking injury.
Yet, for a change, it wasn't the nail in the coffin for Stuttgart. Harnik went racing through on goal and managed to flick the ball across to Ginczek, with Kevin Trapp committed he had the simple task of tapping into an open goal.
Ginczek had suddenly turned into the most loved man in the city. Maxim's persistence with a through ball finally paid off and he looped the ball over the Frankfurt back-line to the former Nürnberg forward. Ginczek kept cool, chested the ball down and finished past the advancing Trapp to send the Mercedes-Benz Arena wild.
Stuttgart held their own for a period of Frankfurt pressure, before Maxim scored a goal himself. Kostic teed up the Romanian and he made no mistake, dispatching the ball confidently past Trapp and sealing the win.
Ulreich produced a great stop low to his left that kept out Seferovic and with that, the game was won. Stuttgart remained bottom despite the win, but were now just two points from safety. As for Frankfurt, who face Hannover next weekend, they'll be disappointed that they couldn't take advantage of Hoffenheim and Augsburg slipping up.