Ten-man HSV stun Stuttgart with injury-time winner

Stuttgart beat Hamburg 6-1 in aggregate when the teams last met in the relegation/promotion playoff in 2023, but this one is always going to be a close affair. HSV started brightly with a couple of half-chances inside the first ten minutes.

And, they took the lead in the 17th minute as the 18-year-old Alexander Røssing-Lelesiit showed tenacity to set up Robert Glatzel. In his first start of the season, Glatzel scored from close range to put the hosts ahead.

Despite scoring three against Borussia Dortmund last time out, Stuttgart showed no strength in attack in a cagey first-half at Volksparkstadion. However, Deniz Undav was at it again after the break with his sixth goal in three matches. The striker who scored Stuttgart’s goals against Dortmund capitalized on Heuer Fernandes’ unconvincing play in the 54th minute.

In a game of few chances, HSV recovered well after the hour-mark. Ransford Königsdörffer and Luka Vuskovic had further half-chances for the hosts in their search for a first win since the start of October.

Stuttgart only had a single point from their last two away fixtures in Leipzig and Dortmund, and they were settled for another point here until the 80th minute. First, they had a counterattacking chance when Undav hit the sidenetting. A minute later, HSV were reduced to ten as the promising Røssing-Lelesiit saw his second booking.

From this point, it was one-way traffic with Stuttgart pushing for a late winner. However, Hamburg nicked it in the end from Stuttgart’s free-kick as Fábio Vieira converted from a classic counterattacking move by the hosts. Hamburg climbed to 13th in the standings after their first win in nearly two months. Stuttgart could drop to seventh if Frankfurt beat Wolfsburg.

The two teams will be in a cup action against last season’s relegated clubs on Wednesday. Hamburg will be at home once again in a duel with Holstein Kiel, while Stuttgart face a trip to VfL Bochum.