Bundesliga
VfB Stuttgart welcomed Benjamin Pavard back after injury, but they lost Mario Gomez to a red card and threw away victory in the dying seconds to draw 2-2 with local rivals Freiburg.
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Stuttgart 2-2 Freiburg
Goals: 0-1 Haberer (4'), 1-1 Insua (75'), 2-1 Didavi (83'), 2-2 Niederlechner (90+4')
Red card: Gomez (89')
Latecomers to this Baden-Württemberg derby will have missed the news that Pavard was back for his first outing of 2019, and a good early chance for the hosts followed by the opening goal from the guests. Nils Petersen – usually on the end of a fine delivery into the area – provided the chance for Janik Haberer to fire in his first goal of the season before all the seats in the Mercedes-Benz-Arena had been taken. Once full, the home fans tried to spur their team on and almost saw their efforts rewarded when Alexander Esswein brought a fine save out of Alexander Schwolow.
It was no surprise to see Gomez come on for Stuttgart at the start of the second half, with his record reading 12 goals in 12 games against the Black Forest club, including braces in each of his last two meetings. He immediately raised the goalscoring threat, with chances falling at both ends. Nicolas Gonzalez wasted Stuttgart's and he was becoming increasingly involved in the action as coach Markus Weinzierl ordered his troops forward. Their pressure paid off when, with 15 minutes to go, Emiliano Insua brought them level, powering his shot past Schwolow from Gonzalez's assist. The fans upped the volume again, and Gonzalez was instrumental again in setting up Daniel Didavi for what seemed like the winner. Two yellow cards in just four minutes saw Gomez's day end early, though, and worse was to follow as Florian Niederlechner levelled at the death.
Line-ups
Stuttgart: Zieler – Pavard, Kabak, Kempf, Insua - Esswein (Beck 88'), Gentner (c) (Didavi 58'), Ascacibar, Zuber – Donis (Gomez 46'), Gonzalez
Unused subs: Grahl, Castro, Thommy, Badstuber
Out: Maffeo (fitness), Meyer (knee)
Coach: Markus Weinzierl
Freiburg: Schwolow – Gulde (Schlotterbeck 38'), Heintz (Niederlechner 84'), Lienhart – Kübler, Haberer, Koch, Günter – Höler (Gondorf 79'), Petersen (c), Grifo
Unused subs: Flekken, Waldschmidt, Terrazzino, Stenzel
Out: Borrello (knee), Höfler (knee), Kath (groin), Kleindienst (knee), Sallai (adductor)
Coach: Christian Streich
Watch: Emiliano Insua happy to score, but "disappointed" not to win