An important early season encounter between two struggling sides took place on Saturday afternoon, with the danger well and truly heaped upon both the home side Hoffenheim and the away side Stuttgart.

The teams combined had just eight points through fourteen games, and sat ominously at the wrong end of the table, so there was no doubt that a win for either side would have given them a neccessary boost to kick start their campaign properly.

Woodwork struck after just three minutes of play

With just three minutes on the clock, Ermin Bicakcic hit the outside of the post with a close range effort following a headed flick-on by Eduardo Vargas.

In the opening half, Stuttgart failed to really assert themselves in the game, with only a Martin Harnik chance worth mentioning as he fired wide from inside the area.

Hoffenheim take the lead

Hoffenheim took the lead in the 33rd minute courtesy of a penalty from Kevin Volland. Pirmin Schwegler was brought down by Toni Sunjic, leaving referee Aytekin with no choice but to point to the spot. Volland routinely converted as the home side took a derby lead.

Just before the break Vargas found space to shoot outside the box; Tyton happy to see his effort stay central and keep the deficit at one heading into the break.

A goal apiece in the early second half exchange

In the second half, Jonathan Schmid should have made it 2-0 early on, and the visitors made Hoffenheim pay as Jan Kliment rose to head an impressively into the far corner past a motionless Oliver Baumann.

Kevin Volland gave the blues the lead back just thirteen minutes later however, as a mix up left Tyton stranded and the forward calmly chipped the ball over him to restore the 2-1 advantage.

In the 89th minute Kevin Kuranyi could have sealed the game with a right footed shot from just outside the box, however the attempt missed to the left.

Late heroics from Werner

There were late heroics as Timo Werner stole a late point in injury time, the forward stealing in with a glancing header from Ferati's cross to perhaps save his manager's job.

Werner could even have grabbed an even more dramatic winner a minute later, but he missed with his effort from the centre of the box and the remaining seconds were played out.

The draw leaves Stuttgart rooted to the bottom with just four points from a possible twenty-four to begin the season, while Hoffenheim sit in 15th position and will be looking over their shoulder in the coming weeks if things do not improve.

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