Stuttgart finally up and running after Hannover win
Stuttgart - VfB Stuttgart claimed their first three points of the season thanks to a 1-0 win over Hannover 96 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
First time for everything
There was a distinct Far Eastern flavour to events in the Baden-Württemberg capital, where Hannover's Hiroki Sakai and Hiroshi Kiyotake came up against Japanese compatriot Gotoku Sakai, who wasted Stuttgart's first opening of note. Kiyotake couldn't match his jinking run with the necessary finish at the other end, before Stuttgart captain Christian Gentner spurned another decent opportunity late in the half.
The hosts were again fastest out of the traps after the restart as Timo Werner went within a whisker of turning home substitute Filip Kostic's inviting cross. Armin Veh's continued to enjoy the lion's share of possession, albeit without yet testing FIFA World Cup winner Ron-Robert Zieler in the Hannover goal.
That all changed with 21 minutes left on the clock, though, as Daniel Schwaab arrived unmarked to swipe home his first Bundesliga goal in 134 top-flight outings. Another driving run from Kiyotake almost drew the equaliser, but the Stuttgart defenders did just enough to deny Joselu a certain goal and hold onto the win that, temporally at least, lifts them out of the bottom three for the first time since the opening day.
Line-ups and statistics
