The line-up
Head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo made one change to the starting XI that suffered a 3-1 loss away to RB Leipzig. Umut Tohumcu started in place of Robert Skov.
The scenario
TSG went into Matchday 16 in seventh place in the table with 23 points, while SV Darmstadt 98 were bottom with nine points.
Moment of the match
The 80th minute: John Anthony Brooks was presented with a shooting opportunity from an unmarked position three metres out following a corner, but fired over the goal and missed the chance to make it 4-2. Darmstadt equalised for the third time five minutes later.
Number of the game: 20
TSG Hoffenheim scored for the 20th Bundesliga match in succession – an outright club record.
A curious celebration
The celebrations for the 2-1 goal: a little boy suddenly appeared on the pitch and joined in the goal celebrations with the TSG players. The moment naturally had to be captured with a selfie.
Outlook
It was the final competitive game of the calendar year for both teams. The TSG players will resume training on 2 January, before restarting the campaign away to FC Bayern Munich on 12 January.
Stats
Line-ups:
TSG Hoffenheim: Baumann – Ozan Kabak (Justvan, 90), Brooks, Vogt – Kadeřábek, Stach, Tohumcu (Grillitsch, 54) – Prömel (Becker, 90), Kramarić (Beier, 73), Bülter (Skov, 46) – Bebou
SV Darmstadt 98: Schuhen – Klarer, Gjasula (Ronstadt, 46), Isherwood (Maglica, 75) – Riedel, Bader (Torsiello, 84), Franjic (Müller, 75), Karic – Kempe (Honsak, 84) – Skarke, Pfeiffer
Goals: 1-0 Kramarić (pen., 14), 1-1 Pfeiffer (23), 2-1 Bebou (28), 2-2 Skarke (57), 3-2 Bebou (66), 3-3 Skarke (85)
Match highlights
The first dangerous attempt
The first shot of the match: Kadeřábek crosses from the right towards Kramarić in the middle. The Croat heads narrowly to the left of target – a missed opportunity.
Kramarić from the spot
Bebou is clean through following a long pass and beats Darmstadt’s goalkeeper Schuhen to the ball. The striker rounds the goalie and is then brought down in the penalty box. Kramarić coolly slots the resultant spot-kick into the bottom-right corner.
The equaliser
That was too easy: Darmstadt link up down the left flank without too much difficulty and cross low into the middle, where Pfeiffer beats Vogt to the ball and scores.
That should’ve been the lead again
The best attack of the match is not rewarded: Tohumcu plays a superb through-ball to Kadeřábek, who cuts it back perfectly to Prömel, but the midfielder fires wide of a relatively empty goal from 10 metres out.
Bebou puts TSG in front
That happened quickly: Vogt feeds Prömel in the middle, who sees the gap behind the defence and plays in Bebou. The striker goes clean through on Schuhen, rounds him and slots home easily.
Skarke equalises
TSG concede another goal too easily: Skarke is picked out in the middle relatively simply, aims for the bottom-right corner from a central position and scores.
Bebou puts TSG ahead for third time
What a day the boy is having: Grillitsch wins the ball and threads it through to Bebou. The striker sidesteps an opponent, cuts into the middle and shoots left-footed into the bottom-right corner.
Brooks spurns chance to wrap it up
That should’ve been 4-2: Stach flicks on a Skov corner perfectly towards the unmarked Brooks, who fires over from three metres. Damn.
The third equaliser
Ozan Kabak clears a free-kick straight to the feet of Pfeiffer, who squares to Skarke and the Darmstadt man thunders the ball into the bottom-right corner.
Match facts and statistics »
Match highlights
The first dangerous attempt
The first shot of the match: Kadeřábek crosses from the right towards Kramarić in the middle. The Croat heads narrowly to the left of target – a missed opportunity.
Kramarić from the spot
Bebou is clean through following a long pass and beats Darmstadt’s goalkeeper Schuhen to the ball. The striker rounds the goalie and is then brought down in the penalty box. Kramarić coolly slots the resultant spot-kick into the bottom-right corner.
The equaliser
That was too easy: Darmstadt link up down the left flank without too much difficulty and cross low into the middle, where Pfeiffer beats Vogt to the ball and scores.
That should’ve been the lead again
The best attack of the match is not rewarded: Tohumcu plays a superb through-ball to Kadeřábek, who cuts it back perfectly to Prömel, but the midfielder fires wide of a relatively empty goal from 10 metres out.
Bebou puts TSG in front
That happened quickly: Vogt feeds Prömel in the middle, who sees the gap behind the defence and plays in Bebou. The striker goes clean through on Schuhen, rounds him and slots home easily.
Skarke equalises
TSG concede another goal too easily: Skarke is picked out in the middle relatively simply, aims for the bottom-right corner from a central position and scores.
Bebou puts TSG ahead for third time
What a day the boy is having: Grillitsch wins the ball and threads it through to Bebou. The striker sidesteps an opponent, cuts into the middle and shoots left-footed into the bottom-right corner.
Brooks spurns chance to wrap it up
That should’ve been 4-2: Stach flicks on a Skov corner perfectly towards the unmarked Brooks, who fires over from three metres. Damn.
The third equaliser
Ozan Kabak clears a free-kick straight to the feet of Pfeiffer, who squares to Skarke and the Darmstadt man thunders the ball into the bottom-right corner.