Last-gasp Fábio Vieira effort earns ten-man Hamburg dramatic win over Stuttgart
Fábio Vieira scored with virtually the last kick of the game to earn Hamburg a dramatic victory over in-form Stuttgart at the Volksparkstadion.
Hamburg 2-1 Stuttgart
Goals: 1-0 Glatzel 17’ (assist: Rössing-Lelesiit), 1-1 Undav 54’ (assist: Leweling), 2-1 Fábio Vieira (assist: Baldé)
Red card: Rössing-Lelesiit 81’
The hosts had collected just a single point from their previous five league outings, while Sebastian Hoeneß's Stuttgart travelled to Hamburg looking to reclaim a place in the top four of the Bundesliga.
Hamburg boss Merlin Polzin handed Robert Glatzel his first Bundesliga start of the campaign on Sunday afternoon, and the striker almost repaid his coach's faith immediately when he struck the bar with a deflected cross-shot after just nine minutes.
Glatzel fires hosts ahead
The 31-year-old broke the deadlock seven minutes later, however, when he let Alexander Rössing-Lelesiit's perfectly weighted pass run across his body before firing a low shot past Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nübel and inside the near post.
The goalscorer's afternoon ended on a sour note, though, after he was forced off with an injury before half-time. Stuttgart had to make an enforced change of their own shortly before the interval, when the stricken Chris Führich was withdrawn for in-form striker Deniz Undav.
Undav levels for visitors
The visitors began to turn the screw in the second half, and their pressure told nine minutes after half-time when substitute Jamie Leweling's fierce long-range effort was parried by Daniel Heuer Fernandes, allowing Undav to pounce on the rebound and score his seventh league goal of the campaign – and his sixth consecutive Bundesliga strike for the Swabians.
There only appeared to be one winner at that stage as Stuttgart continued to pile forward, but Hamburg weathered the storm and went close to retaking the lead when Luka Vušković headed Miro Muheim's delivery narrowly off target.
Dramatic finale
The home side's task was made considerably tougher when Rössing-Lelesiit received a second yellow card for a foul on Josha Vagnoman with nine minutes remaining, but Polzin's team appeared to be holding on for a hard-earned point as the game entered injury time.
Stuttgart could have won the game from a free-kick on the edge of the Hamburg box deep into stoppage time, but Angelo Stiller's effort was tame and the hosts took full advantage on the counter-attack. Fabio Baldé carried the ball from deep inside his own half all the way into the visitors' penalty area, where he managed to tee up Vieira to fire a low shot into the bottom corner and send the home fans at the Volksparkstadion into raptures.
Player of the Match: Deniz Undav
Despite ending up on the losing side, Undav delivered an eye-catching performance off the bench in Hamburg, earning him the Man of the Match award.
His second-half equaliser was one of three attempts by the Germany international - more than any other player on the pitch. His intelligent movement was a constant threat to the Hamburg defence, despite his side being unable to press home their advantage in the second half.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Hamburg 0.91 - Stuttgart 0.87
Fastest player: Ameen Al-Dakhil (Stuttgart), 34.97 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 1-0 by Robert Glatzel (Hamburg), 17.59 percent
Most pressed player: Badredine Bouanani (Stuttgart), 24 times under pressure
Pass efficiency: Jeff Chabot (Stuttgart), +2.73
Fantasy Heroes: Bilal El Khannouss (Stuttgart, 196 Points), Ramon Hendriks (Stuttgart, 178 Points), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart, 161 Points)
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