HSV dispatch Nuremberg for first win in 2020

Jatta and Hinterseer give Hamburg deserved half-time lead

Two of HSV's January transfer window signings were put straight into the starting line-up, with Jordan Beyer starting at right-back and Louis Schaub in central midfield in the usual 4-3-3 formation, with Adrian Fein sitting in front of the back four and Sonny Kittel out on the left wing. The hosts started the game strongly, with Nuremberg barely able to make it out of their own half for the first quarter of an hour. Kittel went the closest after good work from Louis Schaub but he slightly mishit his right-footed shot in the 15th minute from the edge of the area to go slightly past the right-hand post. Only two minutes later the Rothosen took a deserved lead, when the terrier-like Dudziak snapped at the heels of Gnezda and won the ball in a dangerous position. The 24-year-old fed Sonny Kittel who skipped past Margreitter, drove to the left-hand area of the box and laid across to Bakery Jatta who passed into the net with his left foot for his second goal in as many games. 

Michael Frey from Nuremberg was lucky not to see red just a minute after the restart, ploughing into the back of Sonny Kittel yet escaping with just a caution. The lethargy of the final few performances before Christmas was nowhere to be seen for the Rothosen, who were moving the ball about quickly and with purpose, and harrying their opponents into making mistakes. One such move saw the impressive Dudziak exchange passes with Louis Schaub and flick the ball inside cleverly when receiving the ball back, inviting the clumsy challenge of Mavropanos as referee Schmidt correctly pointed to the spot. Vice-captain Lukas Hinterseer stepped up to cooly send Mathenia the wrong way and collect his seventh goal of the season. The guests improved slightly after the second Hamburg goal, with Geis' set-piece delivery looking like it would be the greatest threat to Hamburg's lead, the man on loan from 1.FC Köln testing Heuer Fernandes from 25 yards with a whipped right-footed effort. Hamburg could have extended their lead even further when the dangerous Kittel's whicked ball across the box could only be parried by Mathenia to Schaub ten yards out, but the Austrian's effort was cleared off the line by Handwerker. A three-goal advantage wouldn't have been undeserved for HSV, who had played with tempo and direction from the outset.