2-2 draw with Lille in pre-season friendly

It was an entertaining contest from the very first minute, with the Rothosen twice threatening the Lille goal early on. Adeline first found Jatta out on the right, whose low cross narrowly evaded Capaldo inside the six-yard box (2’). Moments later, Adeline fired just wide from a central position just outside the area (3’). Lille responded through Onal, whose curling effort from the left drifted wide of the far post (4’). A minute later, Torunarigha misplaced a pass while playing out from the back. Mukau intercepted and immediately found Haraldsson, who slipped the ball past Tangvik from point-blank range to give Lille a 1-0 lead.

The Rothosen were unfazed by the setback and took control of the play. At times, every HSV player apart from Tangvik was camped inside the Lille half. The hosts created one opportunity after another but were unable to make them count. Grønbæk squared for Poulsen in the 11th minute, with the striker aiming for the far corner from the left side of the box, only for Ozer to make the save. Poulsen tested the goalkeeper again shortly afterwards, this time from a more central position, but Ozer was once more equal to it (16’). Baka then latched on to an excellent pass from Omari and sent a low ball into the area, which was cleared before it could cause any real danger (18’). Although the next two openings fell Lille’s way, Santos (22’) and Perraud (34’) were unable to seriously threaten. HSV continued to dictate the game. Sambi Lokonga went close to an equaliser shortly before the break, sending a shot from almost 16 yards narrowly wide of the post (42’). That brought the first of the three periods to an end.

Both sides made a combined nine changes ahead of the final period. Among them were switches in goal at either end, while Diaoune returned for a second spell for Lille. HSV were awarded a free-kick near the right corner of the penalty area in the 98th minute, and Philippe made it count. The left-footed forward curled a superb effort into the top-right corner to level the scores at 1-1. Opponent Verdonk was quick to congratulate the goalscorer with a handshake.

Only seconds later, Daka found himself one-on-one with substitute goalkeeper Bodart but was unable to get the better of him. It was a similar story in the 107th minute. After being picked out by Pherai, Daka shifted the ball onto his left foot in a central position, but Bodart got down well to his left to turn the shot behind. Four minutes later, Daka finally beat the goalkeeper, only to see his effort come back off the post. Stange did put HSV ahead in the 113th minute. The academy product was brought down by Srdanovic inside the box and stepped up to take the resulting penalty himself, calmly finding the bottom-right corner to make it 2-1. HSV had been the better side in the final period and created another chance eight minutes later, when Pherai won possession just outside the box and found Philippe. The forward took aim immediately, but Bodart was there to keep it out. Heuer Fernandes was then called into action at the other end, first denying Correira (124’), then reacting sharply after HSV lost the ball while playing out from the back (125’) and showing quick reflexes to deal with a rebound two minutes later (127’). There was nothing he could do later in the 127th minute, however, when Perrin picked out Diaoune from a corner and the Lille man headed into the far corner to make it 2-2. That proved to be the final goal of the extended friendly. The Rothosen are next in action on Saturday (15th August), when they travel to Toulouse FC for a 19:00 CEST kick-off.