Alexander Zorniger and VfB Stuttgart finally got off the mark this evening, picking up a vital win against Hannover 96.
Exciting first half sees Stuttgart ahead
Hannover started really brightly and thought they'd taken the lead in just the 10th minute with a deflected strike, though the ball which swerved through Przemyslaw Tyton's legs was deflected in by Leon Andreasen and the home fans' celebrations were cut short.
That wasn't the case for long, however, as they went ahead just a few minutes later. Hiroshi Kiyotake was played through down the right by a lovely, raking ball and the Japanese international put in the perfect cross towards Kenan Karaman. He slid in, unmarked, at the back post and tapped into an empty net to give the hosts a deserved lead.
The game was completely turned on its head within the next two attacks, as Stuttgart suddenly found their attacking flair. Christian Gentner leveled the scores with a typical captain's goal. A mazy run around two defenders before bursting into the box gave him a shooting opportunity, which he took with both hands and curled into the far corner.
That spurred on the visitors and they soon had a second, and it was as much of a relief to the side as it was to a certain Timo Werner. The young forward has struggled recently and failed to find the net for quite a while, but finally got off the mark for this season. Ron-Robert Zieler made a stunning save from Daniel Ginczek's effort only for the rebound to fall straight to Werner, who finished into the net before running to celebrate with the bench.
Chances fell to both sides afterwards but the biggest opportunities in the final minute. Firstly, Marcelo's miss-kick inadvertently set up Salif Sané, who rattled the post with a powerfully drive from 20 yards. Stuttgart immediately broke up the pitch and Filip Kostic was denied excellently by Zieler, who spread himself wide to keep out the Serbian's wonderful run and shot.
Stuttgart seal it late on
Hannover, like the first half, began brightly in the second period. Kiyotake was involved once again and the creative midfielder got the time to shoot himself, only to blaze widely over the bar with a half-volley. The Swabians responded quickly and Daniel Didavi was denied a goal following some good build-up play, though Zieler was in the way to make a third vital save.
Zieler was a busy man and had to be on his toes to beat away Alexandru Maxim's powerful drive, before Genter picked the ball up on the dge of the box and drove the ball back at goal; thankfully for Zieler, it went narrowly wide. Felix Klaus finally found a spark for the home side as he tested Tyton, though the Polish stopper dealt with it well.
Stuttgart could, and should, have been out of sight by now but couldn't quite convert at critical times. Maxim fired just past the post before having Zieler make another set of fine saves. His first shot was reasonably comfortable, although his free-kick needed to be expertly tipped over the bar. The Hannover 'keeper's efforts would be in vain, unfortunately for his side, as Stuttgart picked up their first win of the season.
Maxim was able to seal the game late on after Zieler capped a fine individual performance with a mistake. He came out and failed to clear with Ginczek nipping in ahead of him and setting up the Romanian. He shot home from 30 yards and Alex Zorniger could breathe a sigh of relief at last.