2–2 draw in the XXL friendly against Lille

From the very first minute, it was a lively affair, with the Rothosen creating two chances in front of the opposition’s goal right from the start. First, Adeline played the ball out to Jatta on the right, whose low cross was narrowly missed by Capaldo inside the six-yard box (2'). Shortly afterwards, Adeline fired a shot from a central position just outside the penalty area, which went wide of the goal (3'). The visitors then found their way into the game through Onal, whose curling shot from the left went wide of the right-hand post (4’). A minute later, Torunarigha misplaced a pass during a build-up, which Mukau intercepted and immediately played on to Haraldsson, who slotted the ball past Tangvik from point-blank range to give Lille a 1–0 lead.

The Rothosen were unfazed by the goal and took control of the game. At times – with the exception of Tangvik – all the players were in the French half. Hamburg created one chance after another without capitalising on them. In the 11th minute, Grönbaek played a cross to Poulsen, who, positioned on the left-hand side of the penalty area, aimed for the far post, but Ozer in goal made the save. Shortly afterwards, Poulsen had another shot, this time from a more central position, but the keeper saved it again (16). Baka then played a low cross into the penalty area following a superb pass from Omari, which was cleared before it could become more dangerous (18th minute). Although the next chances fell to Lille, who made harmless forays forward through Santos (22nd minute) and Perraud (34th minute), Hamburg dominated the match. A shot by Sambi Lokonga from a central position, almost 16 metres out, nearly levelled the score at 1–1, but the ball went just wide of the left-hand post (42'). That brought the first of three thirds in this extra-long friendly to a close.

At the start of the second third, head coach Polzin brought on forwards Daka and Stange in place of Sambi Lokonga and Poulsen. It took the two substitutes just 20 seconds to link up for their first move: Daka controlled the ball in the penalty area and played it on to Stange, whose shot from close range was saved by goalkeeper Ozer. Moments later, the match came to an unexpected end for Grönbaek; the Dane picked up an injury during an attack and had to be substituted. (53.) Amid applause, he made his way straight down to the tunnel.

This incident dampened the mood amongst the spectators at the Volkspark. At the same time, both teams created fewer clear-cut chances than in the first period, as their respective defences thwarted attacking attempts at an early stage. In the 67th minute, Lille’s Onal was played in with a cross from the right into the penalty area, but the ball rebounded off his body and went out of play. Four minutes later, his team-mate Perrin aimed well too high with a long-range shot. Shortly before the next stoppage, Stange won a free-kick from a promising position: Philippe’s effort from the left edge of the penalty area rebounded off the wall onto the feet of Sahiti, whose powerful long-range shot flew narrowly past the right-hand post (89). After that, the teams switched ends once more.

The teams went into the final third of the match, during which both sides made a total of nine substitutions. Among other things, there were changes between the posts – and Diaoune played for Lille for the second time. In the 98th minute, the Rothosen were awarded a free-kick on the right-hand corner of the penalty area, which left-footed Philippe successfully took. The striker scored a superb goal into the top right-hand corner to level the score at 1–1! There was also special praise from the opposition: Verdonk congratulated the goalscorer with a handshake.

Just seconds later, Daka found himself one-on-one with the new goalkeeper Bodart, but came off second best. In the 107th minute, it was a similar story: following a pass from Pherai, Daka controlled the ball in the centre of the box and shot with his left foot; Bodart dived to his bottom left and parried the ball away for a corner. Four minutes later, Daka did get past Bodart, but hit the post, so the score remained unchanged. Stange then made the difference in the 113th minute: the home-grown player was fouled by Srdanovic in the penalty area and stepped up to take the penalty himself – confidently slotting it into the bottom right corner to give his side a 2–1 lead! Up to that point, the third period had belonged to the Rothosen, who created their next chance eight minutes later: Pherai won the ball just outside the penalty area and found Philippe, who didn’t hesitate and aimed for the bottom-right corner, but Bodart was on hand. Heuer Fernandes then took centre stage, first saving from Correira (124’), then reacting quickly to a mistake in build-up play (125’) and raising his arms swiftly to deal with a rebound (127’). However, he was powerless in the 127th minute when, from a corner, Perrin found Diaoune in the centre, who headed into the far corner to make it 2–2. The XXL friendly ended shortly afterwards with this score. The next test match awaits the Rothosen this coming Saturday (15 August). At 7 pm, they will be facing FC Toulouse in an away game.