Anthony Modeste (l.) opened the scoring for Hoffenheim at the Mercedes-Benz Arena
Anthony Modeste (l.) opened the scoring for Hoffenheim at the Mercedes-Benz Arena

Hoffenheim claim derby bragging rights at Stuttgart

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Stuttgart - Goals from Anthony Modeste and Tarik Elyounoussi handed TSG Hoffenheim 1899 a 2-0 victory at south-west rivals VfB Stuttgart.

Elyounoussi settles it

Armin Veh’s charges started the brighter of the two teams and could have taken the lead inside ten minutes, but Hoffenheim keeper Oliver Baumann was equal to Martin Harnik’s header. It was the visitors who broke the deadlock shortly afterwards, however, Anthony Modeste planting a powerful header into the bottom corner for his second goal of the season.

Stuttgart’s Florian Klein went close to levelling matters with the half-hour mark approaching, but he failed to hit the target with a volley from inside the penalty area. Timo Werner and Roberto Firmino then both saw long-range efforts miss the target shortly after the restart, but chances were few and far between in the second half as die Kraichgauer opted to sit back and defend their narrow lead.

Tobias Strobl came to Hoffenheim’s rescue with ten minutes left on the clock when he deflected Alexandru Maxim’s effort wide of the post, and that block proved crucial as Tarik Elyounoussi finished off a flowing counterattack in the dying stages to hand Markus Gisdol’s side their second win of the season and keep Stuttgart deep in trouble near the foot of the table.

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