Match report

Four-star Hamburg emerge from Karlsruhe with three points

A strong performance from Hamburg for the first hour of the away tie at Karlsruhe was almost undone by two late goals from the hosts, before Samperio made sure of the three points in injury time.

Hamburger SV secured their third win of the season away at Karlsruher SC on Sunday (25th August) to continue their positive start to the league campaign. A penalty from Lukas Hinterseer and a short-range effort from Kittel saw Dieter Hecking’s men enter half-time two to the good, and the game had seemed all but wrapped up after a beautiful third from Kittel just after the hour mark. Yet sleepy defending from the visitors and a concerted effort from the hosts saw two quick goals set up a grandstand finish. But it wasn’t to be for Karlsruhe, as a blistering counter-attack from Jairo Samperio in injury time finally put the game to bed, with HSV eventually running out 4-2 winners.

Sonny Kittel's first goal from open play for HSV was a thing of beauty, involving the whole team from front-to-back. David Kinsombi leads the congratulations.

Clinical and clever first half

Dieter Hecking made one change compared to the team that beat Bochum by one goal to nil at the Volksparkstadion last Friday, with Khaled Narey coming back into the side after the birth of his first child. Jeremy Dudziak had to make way, dropping to the bench, with Sonny Kittel moving into the number 10 role just behind Lukas Hinterseer.

Hamburg carried the momentum from the Bochum game into the opening exchanges, with Bakery Jatta having the first opportunity of the game. A vicious cross from new father Narey went all the way across Uphoff’s six-yard area but Thiede did just enough to put Jatta off, with the ball rushing onto the Hamburg winger before he could react. However, the strong start from the visitors was rewarded in the 16th minute with the opening goal of the game. Hinterseer played a wonderful chipped ball into the path of Leibold, who drove into the box and was felled by Fröde. After consultation with the video referee, who deemed it was a clear foul on the Hamburg left-back, Hinterseer stepped up in place of the missing Aaron Hunt to send Uphoff the wrong way and double his personal haul in the league.

The home side looked most dangerous from set pieces, with Gordon enjoying the first chance of the game for the hosts, with Wanitzek’s free-kick landing at his feet, but the centre-back could only find the waiting arms of Daniel Heuer Fernandes. Another Wanitzek free-kick a few moments later gave Philipp Hofmann his first chance of the game, finding himself all alone at the back post, but fortunately from Hamburg’s point-of-view his header was too weak and not accurate enough to trouble Heuer Fernandes. Aside from the dead-ball opportunities from Karlsruhe it was the away side who controlled the tempo and were on top, passing the ball fluently and posing threats to a home side who at times could not live with their movement with and without the ball. Adrian Fein laid it off to Tim Leibold with 27 minutes gone, and the left-back let fly from 25 yards, with his ferocious effort just kissing the top of the crossbar.

Hofmann had another chance to bring his new employers back into the game, but Heuer Fernandes palmed his effort away strongly. Hamburg broke quickly, with Kittel feeding Jatta out wide. The winger drove strongly at Thiede, who could do nothing but back off and Jatta fed the ball into Hinterseer in the six-yard area. The new signing from Bochum did extremely well to hold off Prisot and at the same time lay the ball back to the waiting Kittel, who controlled the ball and placed it past Uphoff from eight yards out to double the Hamburg lead. Kittel had a chance to score his third direct free-kick inside the last four games with a minute to go in the half, yet from 30 yards out was struggling to generate the pace and whip needed to really threaten Uphoff. As it was, the visitors entered the interval two goals to the good.

Jairo Samperio's first goal for over a year sealed the deal for HSV, after two late goals for Karlsruhe.

Karlsruhe punish slack defending

Alois Schwartz’s men emerged for the second half motivated and energetic, pressing the visitors high up the pitch and once again looking most likely to pose a threat from set pieces. However, there were no real moments of alarm for Daniel Heuer Fernandes, and it was the guests who extended their lead just after the hour mark in curious circumstances. Tim Leibold was felled for the second time in the match inside the Karlsruhe penalty area, with both sets of players stopping, expecting the whistle to blow for an obvious infringement. When referee Storks’ whistle did not come, the Hamburg left-back got to his feet again, and found Hinterseer, who laid it back to Sonny Kittel. The new signing from Ingolstadt skipped past his man on the edge of the area and whipped a curling effort straight into the top corner, a phenomenal strike to double his personal tally for the afternoon.

With the Hamburg lead extended to 3-0, the game looked all but wrapped up, and Kittel had the chance to seal his hat trick, but his right-footed effort whistled just past the left-hand upright. However, the hosts found their way back into the match, unsurprisingly through a dead-ball situation. Daniel Gordon rose highest at a corner from Marvin Wanitzek to power his header past Daniel Heuer Fernandes, who conceded a first goal in the league since the 46th minute of the opening game of the season. With two minutes of regular time left to play, the situation became even more precarious for the away side, who had looked so comfortable at 3-0. Camoglu was left to cross into the box uninhibited, and Pourié’s flick-on found Hofmann at the back post, who used his third chance of the game to score his fourth of the season.

With the ball seemingly falling to KSC at every opportunity, the 1,580 travelling fans had a sinking feeling, fearing that the home side would get revenge for the dramatic injury-time equaliser from Marcelo Diaz four years ago. Yet it wasn’t to be for the home side, as substitute Jairo Samperio picked up the ball in his own half and, with a number of Karlsruhe players thrown forward in search of an equaliser, had the freedom of Baden-Württemberg to drive forward with the ball. Having carried the ball over 60 yards and with no defender in sight, the Spaniard decided to let fly from the edge of the area, finding the bottom left-hand corner to finally put the game to bed. A strong performance for the first 65 minutes of the game from HSV, but Dieter Hecking will be disappointed with how easily Karlsruhe got back into the game. All in all a deserved three points for Hamburg, who look to continue their good start to the season next Sunday at home to Hannover.

Game overview

Karlsruher SC: Uphoff - Thiede, Gordon (82‘ Djuricin), Pisot, Roßbach - Fröde (73’ Stiefler), Wanitzek - Grozurek (58’ Camoglu), Lorenz - Hofmann, Pourié

Hamburger SV: Heuer Fernandes - Gyamerah, Jung, van Drongelen, Leibold - Fein, Kinsombi - Narey (80‘ Jairo), Kittel (82‘ Dudziak), Jatta - Hinterseer (79‘ Wood)

Goals: 0-1 Hinterseer (16‘, p), 0-2 Kittel (34‘), 0-3 Kittel (67‘), 1-3 Gordon (76‘), 2-3 Hofmann (88‘), 2-4 Jairo (90‘+1)

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: Sören Storks (Velen)

Yellow cards: Hinterseer (30’), Gyamerah (54’), Fein (82’) / Fröde (44’), Gordon (59’)

Red cards: - / -