BERLIN, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Stuttgart was held 1-1 at home by Union Berlin on Sunday as a late equalizer wiped out the host's second-half lead in the Bundesliga.
Stuttgart began matchday 18 on the back of two straight league wins and started brightly with aggressive pressing. Josha Vagnoman tested goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow inside seven minutes, but Union settled and threatened through set pieces and direct play.
Union hit the outside of the post through Andrej Ilic before the break, while Stuttgart efforts from Maximilian Mittelstadt and Deniz Undav missed the target and the match was goalless at halftime.
Stuttgart increased the pressure after the interval and went ahead in the 59th minute. Ramon Hendriks surged forward from the right and found Chris Fuhrich, who shifted the ball onto his favored foot and guided a finish into the bottom corner.
Stuttgart then dropped deeper and looked to counter, but failed to extend its advantage. Angelo Stiller missed a clear chance to make it 2-0 late on, firing over from close range, and Union equalized soon after.
In the 83rd minute, substitute Stanley Nsoki broke down the left and cut the ball back for fellow substitute Jeong Woo-yeong, who finished to make it 1-1. Jeong later went close to a winner but was denied by goalkeeper Alexander Nubel, while Union also threatened in stoppage time.
The draw left Stuttgart fourth on 33 points, missing the chance to move into third place. Union extended its unbeaten run to four matches and remained ninth on 24 points.
"It was not a very good performance. Union are an awkward side and extremely difficult to play against. We have to blame ourselves for not killing the game off and, in the end, we were even fortunate not to lose it. We never really got control of the match and Union caused us many problems," said Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeness.
Elsewhere, Augsburg surrendered a two-goal lead and drew 2-2 with Freiburg. Enditem
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