Hoffenheim have claimed their first point of the Bundesliga season by playing out a goalless draw with SV Darmstadt 98.
It was the visitors who started the brighter of the two sides, but with clear chances difficult to come by, the travelling fans were left frustrated when Mark Uth dragged a shot wide of the post from a promising position.
Kevin Kuranyi looked dangerous throughout the afternoon and threatened to break the deadlock just before the interval as he found space in the box before taking too many touches, which allowed two Darmstadt defenders to charge down the shot.
Darmstadt offered very little attacking threat, and the hosts were left breathing another sigh of relief when Steven Zuber curled a free kick just over the crossbar early in the second half.
Christian Mathenia then came to the home side's rescue to keep out shots from Kuranyi and Jonathan Schmid as Hoffenheim piled on the pressure.
However, Darmstadt came close to snatching all three points in stoppage time when Sandro Wagner unleashed a powerful low strike to force Oliver Baumann into a stunning save as the newly promoted side were forced to settle for a third successive draw.
Callum Mulvihill
