Match Report
25.08.17
3-1! 10-man HSV win in Cologne
HSV won their first away game of the new season 3-1 away to Europa League participants Cologne, thanks to goals by Andre Hahn (27.), Bobby Wood (34.) and Lewis Holtby (90.+10). Sörensen scored a late consolation goal for the home side (90.+7).
The Rothosen left the sold out Rhen-Energie-Stadion (50,000) with maximum points on Friday night (25.08) after beating Cologne 3-1 on Bundesliga matchday 2. The second straight win took Markus Gisdol’s side to the top of the Bundesliga table. Andre Hahn (27.) and Bobby Wood (34.) gave the visitors a two goal halftime lead, but a dramatic second half was to follow. Firstly match referee Dr.Felix Brych injured himself and had to be replaced by fourth official Sören Storks after a ten minute long break. One of the first things the new whistle blower had to do was give Hamburg captain for the night and former Cologne defender Mergim Mavraj his marching orders for a second bookable offence (60.) He had been booked in the third minute. The visitors fourth on for the final 30 minutes plus ten minutes of stoppage time at the end of the game. It was the first time in Bundesliga history that a substitute referee had ever sent a player off. Frederik Sörensen pulled a goal back for Cologne seven minutes into injury time but HSV substitute Lewis Holtby had the last laugh scoring his side’s third and final goal with almost the last kick of the game to make the final score 3-1 to the Rothosen.
Hahn scores first, Wood doubles advantage
As expected Hamburg boss Gisdol opted for his tried and tested 4-2-3-1 formation but made two changes to his side which had beaten FC Augsburg at home on matchday 1, with Aaron Hunt replacing long term injured Nicolai Müller in attacking midfield and welcoming back central defender Mergim Mavraj who missed the Augsburg home win with a neck problem. Gideon Jung made way for him and took his place on the bench. Summer signing Andre Hahn was on the right wing opposite Filip Kostic. Bobby Wood was once again the sole striker up top.
HSV looked the part playing for the first time in their superb dark blue away strip. They allowed the home side to take the early initiative, hoping for a chance to hit them on the break It was hardly surprising then as Cologne created the first real chance of the game as fit-again striker Yuya Osako forced a save from Hamburg keeper Christian Mathenia with a crisp effort (8.). The visiting defence kept its shape and the home side only managed a few half chances from distance none of which produced a goal (32., 42., 44.).
HSV began to get a foothold in the game after around 25 minutes applying pressure on the Cologne back line. The home defence failed to clear a Hamburg corner and the ball landed at the feet of Hahn who thought quickly and netted his first HSV goal from just inside the box, much to the delight of the huge contingent of travelling Rothosen faithful. Timo Horn in the Cologne goal never had a chance (28.). Six minutes later another HSV set piece would bring further success as Bobby Wood scored his first league goal of the new campaign coolly finishing on 34 minutes. The visitors led 2-0 at the break.
Mavraj off, Holtby makes it 3-1
A dramatic start to the second half followed with Cologne’s Jhon Cordoba striking the outside of a post with the opening chance (47.). Three minutes later referee Brych was forced off with an injury. The break fior that injury took ten minutes. His place on the whistle went to fourth official Sören Storks. Only nine minutes later HSV captain foir the day Mavraj was sent off for a second bookable offence after a silly foul on Cordoba (59.). The visitors were a man down from then on.
Last season such a bitter blow could have seen the Rothosen fall together like a pack of cards – not so on this night though! Gisdol’s team moved closer together and focused at keeping Cologne at bay and keep chances to a minimum (69., 79., 90.+3), and they did a superb job – especially Mathenia, who underlined why he got the nod to be number one stopper with some fine saves including one in particular against Colombian striker Cordoba. HSV continued to mount counter attacks (81., 89., 90.+3) none of which came to anything. Then seven minutes into injury time Cologne pulled a goal back through Sörensen to give the majority of the massive crowd hope. That hope was clinically dashed three minutes later as Hamburg substitute Holtby easily netted to make the final score 3-1 to the visitors.
Gisdol’s men remained calm and collected in a turbulent game and in the end deserved to take maximum points home with them. It was the first time that HSV had won the first two matches at the start of a Bundesliga season for seven years and even saw them go top of the Bundesliga table at least until Saturday when the teams below play their matches. The Rothosen are in action again after the break for international games. On Friday September 8th (8.30 PM) they host controversial Champions League participants RB Leipzig under the floodlights at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg. What a night that promises to be!
Match details:
Cologne: T. Horn - Klünter, Sörensen, Heintz, J. Horn - Risse (24. Clemens), Lehmann (72. Jojic), Hector, Bittencourt (46. Guirassy) - Osako, Cordoba
HSV: Mathenia - Diekmeier, Papadopoulos, Mavraj, van Drongelen - Walace, Ekdal - Hahn, Hunt (29. Waldschmidt, 62. Jung) - Kostic (90. Holtby) - Wood
Goals: 0:1 Hahn (27.), 0:2 Wood (34.), 1:2 Sörensen (90.+7), 1:3 Holtby (90.+10)
Att: 50.000 (sold out)
Referee: Dr. Felix Brych (Munich)
Booked: Sörensen (11.), Hector (88.) / Mavraj (3.), Diekmeier (71.), Papadopoulos (90+)
Sent off: - / Mavraj (59.)