8 Arpil 2007, by Sean Gillen

Meira hits net as Stuttgart keep up title chase

Hamburg 2-4 Stuttgart

Portuguese defender Fernando Meira scored his second goal of the season as Stuttgart beat Hamburg on Saturday to stay in the Bundesliga title race.

Three goals inside the opening twenty-seven minutes put the visitors in the driving seat at the AOL Arena, and Meira added a fourth on 50 minutes before Hamburg managed a couple of late consolations in the closing stages.

All four of Stuttgart’s goals were headers, and they took the lead on ten minutes when Brazilian forward Cacau nodded in from close range. Die Schwaben doubled their advantage just three minutes later through Sami Khedira, who headed in another cross from the right.

Stuttgart continued to attack their opponents and the game was all but sealed with less than half an hour on the clock when Thomas Hitzlsperger’s free-kick was met with a diving header from newly-capped German international Roberto Hilbert.

Referee Lutz Wagner then took centre stage, dismissing a player from either side before the break. Änis Ben-Hatira’s poor challenge on Mathieu Delpierre saw the hosts down to ten men, before Stuttgart’s Hitzlsperger was harshly issued a straight red for his tackle on Nigel de Jong.

Meira heads home

The second half was less than five minutes old when skipper Meira added a fourth for the visitors. Mexican midfielder Pavel Pardo swung in a corner from the left side and the Portuguese defender rose highest at the near post to direct his header downwards and across goal into the far corner.

Hamburg pulled two goals back inside the last twenty-five minutes, with David Jarolim’s cool finish (67) and Ivica Olic’s volley (75) brought a little more respectability to the scoreline.

After the match, Meira told reporters: “It wasn’t easy for us today as HSV attempted to play counter attacking football. We did well defensively and were effective. We now have an important home game against Hanover to focus on which we really want to win.”

With league leaders Schalke winning their match with Gladbach, Stuttgart remain four points off top spot with six games remaining. With four of the six games to be played at home, Armin Veh’s men still have a realistic chance of snatching a first Bundesliga title in fifteen years.

Hamburger SV:
Rost, Atouba, Reinhardt, Mathijsen, Ben-Hatira, Mahdavikia (Trochowski, 46), Jarolim, Sanogo (Olic, 63), van der Vaart, de Jong (Laas, 63), Benjamin
Yellow Cards: van Der Vaart (20)
Red Cards: Ben-Hatira (34)

VFB Stuttgart:
Hildebrand, Osorio, Meira, Magnin, Delpierre, Hitzlsperger, Pardo, Lauth (Streller, 75), Cacau (da Silva, 67), Hilbert (Farnerud, 90), Khedira
Yellow Cards: Magnin (40)
Red Cards: Hitzlsperger (43)

Goals:
[0-1] Cacau, 10
[0-2] Khedira, 13
[0-3] Hilbert, 27
[0-4] Meira, 50
[1-4] Jarolim, 67
[2-4] Olic, 75