VfB Stuttgart
TSG Hoffenheim
| 0-1 | Usami | (5. Min) |
| 0-2 | Joselu | (47. Min) |
| 0-3 | Johnson | (58. Min) |
Daniel Williams
Stats 
Vedad Ibisevic in action during the game.
First defeat to Hoffenheim
At the end of the fifth match day of the season, VfB still await their first win of the campaign. Trainer Bruno Labbadia’s lost 0-3 (0-1) to TSG Hoffenheim.
Bruno Labbadia was forced to make changes to his starting eleven, with Tunay Torun (injured) and Martin Harnik (suspended) unavailable. Georg Niedermeier began in place of Maza and Cristian Molinaro got the nod ahead of Arthur Boka. In addition, Vedad Ibisevic returned from suspension to make the starting eleven and was joined by playmaker Tamas Hajnal.
The fans at the Mercedes-Benz Arena were treated to the first opening of the game shortly after the kick-off. With less than a minute played, Tamas Hajnal put in a cross to the centre, where Ibisevic laid the ball off to Serdar Tasci, but Hoffenheim goalkeeper Koen Casteels was equal to the effort.
Usami opens the scoring
At the other end though, just minutes later, Takashi Usami went one better. The Japanese winger undertook a solo run which saw him make his way through a number of defenders and slot the ball past Sven Ulreich to put the side from the Kraichgau region a goal up (5’).
VfB midfielder Christian Gentner: “That was a very disappointing performance, which wasn’t to be expected after our comeback in Bremen. Post match comments
Sakai makes a goal-line clearance
As the half progressed, VfB could only slowly recover from the set-back, with Sven Ulreich called into action in the 36th minute to gather a delivery from Daniel Williams. Just second later, Ulreich was busy again, getting his fingers tips to a 20 meter drive from Williams to turn the shot over the crossbar. With the score-line at 0-1, the sides went into the break.
Hoffenheim with early stunner
For the second period, Bruno Labbadia brought Raphael Holzhauser in place of Tamas Hajnal, but the new man hadn’t even had his first touch of the ball when VfB found themselves 0-2 down. Georg Niedermeier lost the ball to Firmino, who laid the ball off Joselu and the front man placed his shot coolly into the bottom left corner (47’).
The home side looked for a way back into the tie and had a shot from Christian Gentner stopped by Koen Casteels in the 57th minute. Sven Ulreich in the VfB goal was in action again with almost an hour on the clock. The VfB keeper was forced to make two important saves in quick succession, but even Ulreich’s best efforts couldn’t stop the visitors taking a 3-0 lead on the third attempt within seconds (58’). VfB’s best chance of the second half fell to Gentner in the 69th minute, when the ball struck the midfielder on the chest but, from close range, only bounced away off the crossbar.
There was little goal-mouth action at either end in the remaining minutes and subsequently, TSG Hoffenheim got to celebrate their first ever Bundesliga success over VfB Stuttgart.
