Stuttgart revel in breakthrough victory

Stuttgart’s squad were thrilled to show their “qualities” as they claimed their first win in 10 Bundesliga matches, to move within two points of safety.

The Bundesliga’s bottom club came from behind on Saturday to defeat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 in Stuttgart, with Daniel Ginczek scoring a second-half brace and Alexandru Maxim completing the turnaround with 10 minutes remaining.

The win was Stuttgart’s first in the Bundesliga since they triumphed 1-0 in Hamburg on December 16, and captain Christian Gentner argued his team finally “showed what we’re capable of”.

“We took our chances, showed our morale and gave it everything. It took one moment to break the dam, then we showed what we’re capable of,” the midfielder told Stuttgart’s website.

“You can see how hard such a losing streak can be mentally, which is why the win was all the more important. The victory puts a bit of pressure on the teams around us, but we’re still in a really tough position.”

Despite the win, Stuttgart remained last in the Bundesliga standings but rose to 23 points, one behind second-last Paderborn, while Hamburg sit just ahead in 16th on 25.

Freiburg, who occupy 15th position – the lowest spot in the standings to guarantee Bundesliga football for next season – have 25 points as well but are ahead of Hamburg on goal difference.

Eintracht opened the scoring in the 51st minute through Haris Seferovic but Ginczek turned the game around with goals in the 63rd and 66th minutes.

“We had a poor first half, nothing went for us,” the 23-year-old striker said.

“From the 60th minute though, you could see what qualities we have going forward.”

But Spanish midfielder Oriol Romeu underlined the importance of building on the breakthrough win.

“The main thing is that we won but there’s still plenty to do and we haven’t achieved anything yet,” he said.