Déjà-vu as HSV lose 2-1 to Magdeburg

Hamburger SV suffered yet another home defeat on matchday 28, losing 2-1 to 1. FC Magdeburg in the Monday night fixture. Just as against Darmstadt, HSV were on the wrong side of a last-minute winner. 49,823 fans watched on Volksparkarena as Bakery Jatta gave the hosts the lead in an otherwise evenly-contested first half. The second half was marred by controversy, as the referee ruled out a HSV penalty for a clear handball just minutes before Marius Bülter equalised at the other end. Die Rothosen threw everything forward in the final stages, but it was Magdeburg who clinched all three points with a winner in fourth minute of injury time – Philip Türpitz firing on the half volley.

HSV head coach Hannes Wolf made no changes to the team that beat Paderborn in last week’s cup quarterfinal, setting up the team once again in an offensive 3-5-2 system. But the home side struggled to get the ball forward in the early stages, as Magdeburg defended high up the pitch and put the pressure on HSV. As such, the game was mostly contested in the middle of the pitch, with little action in either penalty box. Holtby was denied a chance at goal by a last-ditch tackle, while at the other end Lohkemper saw his goal ruled out for offside. It took a set piece to break the deadlock, with Jatta pouncing on a Douglas free kick and firing low into the back of the net. The visitors were unfazed by the setback, however, and continued to play forward in pursuit of a goal of their own. Papa & Co. stood firm at the back, while Pollersbeck was on red alert to snuff out any Magdeburg danger and ensure HSV held onto the lead at the break. If the first half was devoid of any real drama, the second half certainly wasn’t – much to HSV’s regret. Within the space of 120 second, Wolf’s team were denied two clear penalties: first for a sliding challenge on Lasogga, then for a handball from the resulting corner. Rather predictably, just minutes after the chaos in the Magdeburg penalty box, the visitors had levelled through Bülter. Instead of being 2-0 up, HSV were now on level terms. If that wasn’t painful enough for Die Rothosen, who face league leaders 1. FC Köln next Monday, the point, which should have been three, was snatched away in the dying seconds of injury time when Türpitz fired a half-volley Pollersbeck.

Match summary:

Hamburger SV:

Pollersbeck - Bates, Papadopoulos, van Drongelen - Jung - Sakai (77. Narey), Mangala, Holtby (83. Köhlert), Santos - Jatta (67. Özcan), Lasogga

1. FC Magdeburg: 

Brunst - Rother (66. Ignjovski), Müller, Erdmann, Perthel - Kirchhoff (83. Schäfer) - Laprevotte, Preißinger - Türpitz - Lohkemper (64. Beck), Bülter

Goals:

1-0 Jatta (31'), 1-1 Bülter (60'), 1-2 Türpitz (90+4')

Spectators:

49,823

Referee: 

Bastian Dankert (Rostock)

Yellow cards:

Holtby (35.), Papadopoulos (48.), Narey (90.) / Bülter (23.), Preißinger (50.), Kirchhoff (80.)

HSV head coach Markus Gisdol was forced into changing his team ahead of the trip south. Long term injured first choice keeper Adler was still recovering from a broken rib before his understudy Mathenia also got injured and was ruled out of the matchday 31 encounter. Up stepped under-21 stopper Mikel to the fray. Key winger Kostic who scored the only goal of the game between the two sides on matchday 14 was suspended so his place went to Austrian Gregoritsch. Ostrzolek got the nod at left back ahead of Douglas Santos while Walace replaced Jung in defensive midfield. Gisdol made four changes in all to the side which lost 1-2 at home to relegation certainties Darmstadt last time out. The new-look formation struggled early on. Augsburg created three top scoring opportunities within the opening 20 minutes. New keeper Mikel managed to keep out efforts by Kohr and Schmid and was grateful to be able to watch a Stafylidis free kick fizz narrowly wide of target. On 22 minutes the visitors were in luck again as an Altintop effort struck the left hand post with Mikel beaten. It seemed to the capacity crowd including yet another sold out contingent of travelling HSV faithful that it weould only be a matter of time before the home side would break the deadlock and they did as Altintop rounded off two counter attacks on 28 and 41 minutes to make the halftime score 2-0 to Augsburg. Mickel was powerless on both occasions and was HSV’s best man before the break.

Lasogga came on for Gregoritsch and Jung replaced Walace at the start of the second half as Gisdol opted for a two-pronged attack. Later Jatta replaced Ostrzolek. The ploy simply didn’t work as the Rothosen had more of the ball than in the previous half but were completely harmless in front of goal. Augsburg played a much more intelligent game and struck the woodwork again through Baier. That superior intelligence was underlined late on as Augsburg struck twice through Max and substitute Bobadilla (76., 85.). It was game over for HSV who failed to threaten until the 84th minute for Lasogga and Wood to miss chances. It was simply not good enough and the Rothosen remain just one point above the relegation play off spot in the table. Matchday 22 sees Gisdol and Co. host Mainz who are level on points but two places better due to a superior goal difference. Only a win will do as the teams lock horns at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg next Sunday (07.05.17, 3.30 PM).

Match details:

FC Augsburg:

Hitz - Verhaegh, Gouweleeuw, Hinteregger, Stafylidis - Kohr, D. Baier (88. Callsen-Bracker) - Schmid, Halil Altintop (80. Bobadilla), Max (87. Ji) - Finnbogason

HSV:

Mickel - Diekmeier, K. Papadopoulos, Mavraj, Ostrzolek (63. Jatta) - Sakai, Walace (46. Jung) - Gregoritsch (46. Lasogga), Holtby, Hunt - Wood

Goals:

1:0 Altintop (28.), 2:0 Altintop (41.), 3:0 Max (76.), 4:0 Bobadilla (85.)

Booked:

Baier (48.) / Mavraj (33.), Gregoritsch (44.), Ostrzolek (51.), Holtby (72.)

Referee:

Manuel Gräfe (Berlin)

Att:

30.660 (sold out)