Adam Hložek brace gives Hoffenheim their first win of the season, 2-1 over VfB Stuttgart

TSG Hoffenheim have their first win of the season, and it took a player returning from a long injury lay-off to get it. Adam Hložek scored twice as Hoffenheim beat VfB Stuttgart 2-1 at the PreZero Arena, his first Bundesliga goals since May 2025 arriving either side of a Maximilian Mittelstädt equaliser for the visitors.

Hložek opened the scoring in the 13th minute, finished through by Bambasé Conté after a turnover deep in Stuttgart's half. Stuttgart, playing their first game since a Champions League win in midweek, responded early in the second half when Josha Vagnoman's cross found Mittelstädt for the equaliser in the 48th minute. Hložek settled it in the 67th minute, restoring Hoffenheim's lead off a chance created by Adam Daghim and completing a third career Bundesliga brace in what was also his most productive afternoon since a lengthy absence from the game.

Match facts

• 13' — Adam Hložek (TSG Hoffenheim), assisted by Bambasé Conté
• 48' — Maximilian Mittelstädt (VfB Stuttgart), assisted by Josha Vagnoman
• 67' — Adam Hložek (TSG Hoffenheim), assisted by Adam Daghim

Hložek was named Man of the Match with 52% of the fan vote, a fitting reward for a player who had not scored a competitive goal for well over a year before this afternoon. Hoffenheim lined up in a 4-4-2 under Christian Ilzer, while Stuttgart's 3-4-2-1 saw changes to the side that had won in Europe three days earlier, with Sebastian Hoeneß rotating personnel across the back three and both wing-back positions.

A first win, and a first defeat

The result flips the early-season pictures for both clubs. Hoffenheim had lost their opening two matches — 2-3 away at Cologne and 2-3 at home to Borussia Dortmund — leaving them bottom of the Bundesliga without a point heading into this game, despite scoring four goals across those two defeats. A first win, against a side unbeaten domestically, is exactly the kind of result Ilzer's side needed to arrest a losing start before it turned into something harder to shake off.

For Stuttgart, the picture had looked considerably brighter before kickoff: a heavy opening-day defeat to Bayern Munich followed by a 4-1 win over Cologne and a Champions League victory over Viking FK in midweek. This defeat is their first in the league since that opening-day loss, and comes on the back of a short turnaround between European and domestic fixtures that head coach Hoeneß will have to manage carefully as both competitions continue through September.

Where the table stands now

Four matchdays into the season, this result has left the two clubs level with each other rather than separated by it. TSG Hoffenheim sit 14th with 3 points from four games, one place and one goal above VfB Stuttgart in 15th, also on 3 points — both clubs carry a goal difference of -3, with Hoffenheim's extra goal scored (7 to Stuttgart's 6) the only thing keeping them above their matchday-3 opponents. Both are still clear of the bottom three — Hamburger SV, 1. FC Union Berlin and Borussia Mönchengladbach — but neither has built anything like the platform Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and SC Freiburg have at the top of the table with three wins or more apiece.

What came next

Neither side carried the result into the following weekend. Hoffenheim's win proved a one-off: they lost 3-1 away at SC Paderborn 07 on matchday 4, their third defeat in four league games and a sign of how far Christian Ilzer's side still are from turning one good afternoon into a run. Stuttgart's turnaround was quicker and harder — three days after losing at the PreZero Arena, Hoeneß's side were beaten again, 0-1 at home by Borussia Dortmund, who arrived unbeaten and left with a fourth straight win to sit top of the Bundesliga on 12 points from four games.