VfB Stuttgart
| 1-1 | Boka | (45. Min) |
Hertha BSC
| 0-1 | Kobiashvili | (5. Min) |
| 1-2 | Wagner | (87. Min) |
Sami Allagui
Sandro Wagner
Stats 
No joy for the brave
On match day 22, VfB battled, ran and held their own, with the support of the home fans, against Hertha BSC but once again, Stuttgart were left empty handed as the visitors punished the home side from set-pieces. Arthur Boka intermittently levelled the scores, but in the end, VfB were left licking the wounds left by an undeserved defeat.
Thomas Schneider made two changes to his starting eleven, with the suspended Moritz Leitner and Ibrahima Traoré being replaced in the starting eleven by Alexandru Maxim and Gotoku Sakai, with Arthur Boka slotting into defensive midfield.
Right from the outset, the VfB fans got behind their team and the unyielding support refused to dissipate even when, after just five minutes, a Levan Kobiashvili shot took a deflection and landed in the back of the VfB net. The hosts continued to battle and, in the 11th minute, Martin Harnik brought a good save from Thomas Kraft.
By mid-way through the half, both sides had managed to cancel one another out and chances were rare. Just shy of the half-hour, VfB were lucky not to go further behind, with Adrian Ramos failing to make effective use of an opening.
With half-time fast approaching, Alexandru Maxim swung a corner into the penalty area, which Berlin keeper Thomas Kraft punched clear, but only as far as Arthur Boka, who met the ball powerfully on the drop and blasted his shot home to make it 1-1 going into the break. A massive boost for the hosts going into the second period!
Cacau: "It’s a real shame that we didn’t reward ourselves after we had equalised"
Post match comments
Hertha break VfB hearts
VfB returned for the second 45 minutes some three minutes before their guests and, just six minutes after the restart, the home fans felt they should have won a penalty when Alexandru Maxim went down in the box, but the referee was unconvinced and waved play on. At the other end, Gotoku Sakai was forced to make a pacy sprint back to block a Tolga Cigerci delivery – which the home fans loudly acknowledged.
VfB continued to battle, but chances were hard to come bay. In the 68th minute, Cacau replaced Mohammed Abdellaoue and quickly proved that he understood just what was at stake, battling back to recover the ball having lost possession (72’). There were some half chances for Rani Khedira and the Gotoku Sakai in the following minutes, but nothing to really threaten the Berlin goal.
The home fans continued to bellow their side forwards, but as is so often the case when results are running against you, nothing seems to work in your favour. From a questionable Hertha free-kick, Sandro Wagner rose to head his side back in front – 1-2 (87‘). The goal-scorer incurred a second booking just minutes later, reducing his side to ten men, but the visitors held out to take all three points and leave VfB dejected and disappointed, in spite of the continuous rousing support from the stands.
