Queens Park Rangers snatch draw at the death

TSG Hoffenheim have rounded off an intense week of training by drawing 2-2 with Queens Park Rangers in a friendly in Eppingen watched by almost 2,600 fans. The Bundesliga side dominated from the off against their English opponents and took an early lead when David Otto broke the deadlock on four minutes. A shot from Adam Szalai was initially kept out but the 19-year-old slotted home the follow-up to make it 1-0. TSG had further opportunities to extend their lead but there were to be no more goals before the break.

But forward Otto struck again after the interval to double the lead for TSG, netting via a scissor-kick in the 57th minute. QPR, however, upped the ante in the closing stages and halved the deficit through Toni Leistner, who played for Union Berlin in the 2. Bundesliga last term, in the 80th minute, before salvaging a draw via Ryan Manning two minutes from time.

Only Baumann plays the full 90

The coaching staff completely overhauled the team on the hour-mark, fielding 21 players in total and leaving only goalkeeper Oliver Baumann to play the full 90 minutes.

Julian Nagelsmann was satisfied with the performance up until the closing stages. "It was very good for 82 minutes but then came eight very bad minutes. In the first period, we did very well and showed a serious attitude. But in the final few minutes, we stopped defending well and gave away too many set-pieces."

VfB Eppingen had undergone a makeover ahead of the friendly between TSG and Queens Park Rangers, with both the stands and the goals at the Hugo Koch Stadion being refurbished. The pitch itself was also in a flawless condition.

Having already met once in the optimal conditions at Eppingen, TSG and Queens Park Rangers will square off again tomorrow in a friendly that will take place behind closed doors. The next training session will take place at 14:30 CET in Zuzenhausen on Tuesday afternoon.

TSG line-up: Baumann, Brenet (Kaderabek, 58), Bicakcic (Posch, 58), Bittencourt (Demirbay, 58), Schulz (Hack, 58), Vogt (Nordtveit, 58), Hoogma (Akpoguma, 58), Otto (Joelinton, 58), Szalai (Zulj, 58), Grifo (Baumgartner, 58), Amade (Amiri, 58)

Goals: 1-0 Otto (4), 2-0 Otto (57), 2-1 Leistner (80), 2-2 Manning (88)

Match facts and statistics »