Ginczek earns Stuttgart a point against bottom club Hamburg

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Stuttgart stretched their unbeaten run to eight matches after pegging back a Hamburg side that have now gone 15 league games without a win.

Stuttgart 1-1 Hamburg

Goals: 0-1 Holtby (18’), 1-1 (Ginczek 44’)

Hamburg came into the game without a win since November, but after a quiet opening they struck first here. When Douglas Santos won possession back in the final third, Luca Waldschmidt stung the palms of Stuttgart keeper Ron-Robert Zieler with a drilled shot from the left of the area. The ball dropped invitingly for Lewis Holtby, who beat Holger Badstuber to the rebound and poked home his second goal of the campaign. Stuttgart didn't have a shot on goal in the opening 26 minutes, but they levelled moments after Waldschmidt rightly had a goal chalked off for offside. A poor clearance allowed Erik Thommy to fire on goal from inside the area, and when his partially deflected shot was spilled by Julian Pollersbeck, Daniel Ginczek was on hand to slot home his fifth goal of the season.

Both sides made changes at the break and Stuttgart substitute Chadrac Akolo signalled the home side's attacking intent by getting a volley on target within five minutes of coming on. Ginczek failed to connect fully with a header soon afterwards, while Thommy curled wide as Stuttgart continued to dominate. But Hamburg responded when Filip Kostic tested Zieler from distance, and Gotoku Sakai showed great skill before his rasping effort from the right was kept out at the near post. Thommy went close to finding the top corner and Waldschmidt and Kostic forced more saves from Zieler at the other end, but both sides had to settle for a share of the spoils.

Watch: With Gomez to the fore, Stuttgart are the third-best Bundesliga side in 2018

Match stats

    Holtby's only other goal in the Bundesliga this season came in a 3-1 win over Cologne on Matchday 3.Stuttgart are unbeaten in their first eight games under Tayfun Korkut and have earned 18 points in that period. VfB have climbed to eighth place in the table, the Swabians' best position this season.Hamburg are winless in their last 15 Bundesliga games - a new record for HSV in the Bundesliga.This was the first draw between these sides in Stuttgart in 13 Bundesliga meetings. Stuttgart had won the last three meetings at home.Filip Kostic left Stuttgart following the club's relegation to Bundesliga 2 in 2015/16 and joined Hamburg.

Line-ups

Stuttgart: Zieler – Pavard, Kaminski (Akolo HT), Badstuber, Insua – Gentner (c), Ascacibar, Aogo (Mangala 88') – Thommy (Bruun Larsen 77'), Gomez, Ginczek
Unused subs: Grahl, Donis, Burnic, Özcan
Absentees: Beck (suspended), Mane (thigh), Brnic (calf), Zimmermann (knee ligaments), Baumgartl (concussion)
Coach: Tayfun Korkut

Hamburg: Pollersbeck – Sakai (c), Jung, Ambrosius (van Drongelen HT), Douglas Santos – Gouaida (Ito 59'), Hunt, Steinmann (Hahn 73'), Holtby – Waldschmidt
Unused subs: Mathenia, Arp, Janjicic, Vagnoman
Absentees: Müller (knee ligaments), Mavraj (disciplinary), Wood (muscle)
Coach: Christian Titz

Watch: Hamburg midfielder Lewis Holtby is not giving up hope of his side beating the drop

As it happened

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