1–0! Muheim’s late game winner brings VfB Stuttgart to their knees

Compared with the last-gasp 3–2 victory away to TSG Hoffenheim, head coach Polzin was forced to make two changes to his starting line-up: Nadir and Muheim came into the side in place of the injured Sambi Lokonga (thigh problems) and Remberg (ACL). The visitors registered the first attempt almost immediately after kick-off. Stiller met a headed clearance on the volley from the edge of the penalty area, narrowly missing the target to the right (1’). At the other end, Vieira took aim from a similar distance after Adeline won the ball high up the pitch, but his effort sailed over the bar (5’).

Just a minute later, a goalkeeper was called into action for the first time. Heuer Fernandes parried a long-range effort from Vagnoman, while HSV captain Capaldo did enough to prevent VfB centre-forward Demirovic from converting the rebound (6’). Shortly afterwards, the Argentine defender misjudged a cross from El Khannouss, allowing Undav to lurk behind him. However, Undav could only glance the ball over the crossbar with his shoulder from close range (9’). Demirovic then missed another promising opportunity, heading wide from a good position (15’).

HSV subsequently became more efficient at dealing with Stuttgart’s offensive play in their 5-3-2 formation against the ball. The hosts pushed the action into the opposition half and created a huge chance of their own. Bornauw met a Muheim corner from the left with a header from ten yards out. Vieira then got a slight but dangerous touch on the ball with his thigh from close range, but Seimen produced an excellent diving save to claw it away from the bottom-left corner (26’).

The two sides largely cancelled each other out over the following ten minutes before Undav fired a low shot against the outside of the left post from 13 yards after being set up by Leweling (39’). At the next opportunity, Heuer Fernandes played it safe, punching a Demirovic header over the crossbar (41’). Given the number of chances Stuttgart had created, the Rothosen could count themselves fortunate to reach half-time with the score still at 0–0.

Both teams returned for the second half unchanged. Vieira won a free-kick in a promising position early on, but after a short lay-off from Muheim, his long-range effort sailed well wide to the left (47’). Less than a minute later, Poulsen came much closer to opening the scoring, heading a Möller Wolfe cross from the left edge of the six-yard box just inches wide of the left post (48’).

Chances then came thick and fast at both ends. First, Demirovic missed a free header from five yards out. Almost immediately, Poulsen smashed the ball against the crossbar after being played in by Vieira (53’). The ball bounced several metres into the air, and VfB goalkeeper Seimen initially appeared to switch off before just managing to tip the rebound over the bar with his fingertips. Wild scenes at the Volksparkstadion!

And there was more to come. At the other end, Heuer Fernandes prevented Stuttgart from taking the lead with a superb save to keep out a turning shot from Undav (58’). Around the hour mark, Polzin made his first substitution, bringing academy graduate Stange on for the tiring Poulsen.

An end-to-end battle had well and truly developed at the Volksparkstadion. Capaldo registered the next two attempts for HSV, but was denied first by goalkeeper Seimen and then by a headed clearance from Chabot. After Nadir fired off target from distance (64’), Stuttgart head coach Hoeneß also made his first changes, introducing Führich and Prömel.

The pace of the game then eased somewhat before picking up again in the final 15 minutes, following a total of five further substitutions between the two sides. Substitute Pejcinovic made the first move, heading a Führich cross wide to the right (80’).

In a match that had taken its toll on both teams, Stuttgart now looked slightly more likely to find a winner. HSV, meanwhile, battled hard to protect a point, as Pejcinovic squandered another huge opportunity from the penalty spot (86’).

But there was still time for one final twist. The Rothosen launched a late counter-attack, and Miro Muheim absolutely thundered the ball into the net from around 25 metres out. An outrageous strike to make it 1–0 — and the Volksparkstadion erupted!

HSV then weathered Stuttgart’s final spell of pressure before, at the final whistle, Muheim was engulfed by his jubilant team-mates in a celebratory huddle near the centre circle. The result marked the first time since the 2010–11 season that HSV had recorded three consecutive Bundesliga victories.