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Special moments from the derby against VfB Stuttgart
When Lehmann stole Salihović's boot
It is not so much the result that is remembered from the second clash between TSG Hoffenheim and VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, but rather a unique, bizarre moment. Towards the end of the match, Sejad Salihović lost his boot going into a challenge in the opposing half. Jens Lehmann, then goalkeeper of VfB, did not pass up the opportunity and stormed out of his goal to pick up the boot. But instead of offering to help the Bosnian by giving him his boot back, Lehmann quickly threw it on top of his own net – presumably to take Salihović out of the game for a moment just before the final whistle. And the unsportsmanlike behaviour seemed to have left its mark on Salihović, now a player and assistant coach of the Hoffenheim U23s: with the match delicately poised at 3-3, TSG were awarded a penalty in the 90th minute. Salihović – who in the meantime had fished his shoe off the Stuttgart goal – stepped up and missed from the spot.
The first victory in the Baden-Württemberg derby
TSG and VfB Stuttgart met for the first time on 21 August 2005 in the 1st round of the DFB Cup. TSG Hoffenheim, at the time still playing in the Regionalliga, managed to force a penalty shoot-out before losing to top division side Stuttgart. Regular battles with VfB followed, but the fans of TSG Hoffenheim had to wait a long time for their first victory against Stuttgart: only in the ninth league game between the sides on 26 September 2012 did TSG finally take the three points in the battle of Baden and Swabia. Almost four years after TSG's promotion to the Bundesliga, Takashi Usami, Joselu and Fabian Johnson scored the goals in a 3-0 win away in Stuttgart on Matchday 5 of the 2012/13 season. Incidentally, VfB Stuttgart's team that day included Vedad Ibišević, who is still the player with the most goals for TSG in a Bundesliga season (18).
Hoffenheim's goal rush against VfB
However, TSG's most spectacular success in the Baden-Württemberg derby came a little later. Just under two and a half years ago, Hoffenheim scored four goals in the home game against VfB, all of which came in the second half. The goals came from Joshua Brenet, Joelinton and a brace from Ishak Belfodil in a 4-0 thrashing on Matchday 9 of the 2018/19 season. Andrej Kramarić and Ishak Belfodil both struck the woodwork from distance in a game that could have seen even more goals for TSG. The path to victory was paved by an early sending off: in just the eighth minute, Stuttgart's Emiliano Insua was given a red card after catching Pavel Kadeřábek in the face with a high boot.
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