Match report

Hinterseer the difference as HSV down Bochum

HSV fought their way past Bochum on Friday night to secure a deserved first home win of the season. Lukas Hinterseer scored the only goal of the game against his old club in the 60th minute.

Bochum have to leave Hamburg empty-handed after their former striker Lukas Hinterseer came back to haunt them, providing the finishing touch that was lacking for the hosts for the majority of the first Friday game of the season. The 41,737 fans who had packed into the Volksparkstadion on Friday night (16th August) saw a first half lacking in goalmouth action, only for Hamburg to go up the gears in the second half and at the end get just rewards for a dominant second-half showing. Despite a number of guilt-edged opportunities after the restart, the result was in the balance right to the end, with a lack of killer instinct meaning that Hamburg failed to kill of a spirited Bochum side. In truth the visitors failed to truly threaten Heuer Fernandes in the Hamburg goal after the hour mark, and despite the close scoreline, Robin Dutt’s men can have no arguments about the three points staying in Hamburg.

Captain's move: Rick van Drongelen managed to save HSV from going behind early on with a great chase-down block on Ganvoula.

HSV grow into the contest after shaky start

HSV manager Dieter Hecking sent out exactly the same starting XI as the first-round cup tie against Chemnitz last Sunday, with the only change to the squad being Berkay Özcan taking the place of Khaled Narey, whose wife is expecting the birth of their first child. Hamburg started the game fairly passively, perhaps with a slight mental hangover from Sunday’s marathon affair, holding on to the ball too long and looking slightly ponderous in possession. Gideon Jung was caught napping after 10 minutes, but captain Rick van Drongelen was able to chase down Bochum's Ganvoula and make an outstanding last-minute block to preserve Daniel Heuer Fernandes’ clean sheet.

Despite seeing 60% of the ball in the first period, the home side were hardly hammering down the Bochum door, and on the majority of their forays forward failed to turn their dominance particularly on the wings into clear-cut chances. The best chance of the half fell to Jeremy Dudziak, as a corner fell to Tim Leibold, and his skidding effort was palmed away by Bochum ‘keeper Riemann straight to the ex-St. Pauli man, only for Riemann to make an excellent reaction save on the rebound to keep the scores level heading into half-time.

Lukas Hinterseer came back to haunt his old Bochum teammates with the only goal of the game on the hour mark.

Hinterseer the match winner

The start of the second half saw the game open up as Bochum tried their luck going forward, with a nice move down the right seeing Ganvoula freed, but his effort on goal was wayward from a tight angle, with teammates better placed in the middle. And ex-Bochum man Hinterseer showed his former team exactly what they were missing exactly on the hour mark. A corner was only partially cleared by the visitors, and, in the second wave of attack, Bakery Jatta slipped in Tim Leibold behind the Bochum back-line with a slide-rule pass. The former Nuremberg man kept his cool, driving to the byeline and pulling back precisely to the waiting Hinterseer, who slammed his left-footed effort into the roof of the net to give Riemann no chance and open his league account for the season at the third time of asking.

The opening goal seemed to calm the nerves for the hosts and they pushed for a killer second, playing the kind of free-flowing football that Dieter Hecking had been looking for since the start of his tenure. Yet on a number of occasions, the final ball was lacking or didn’t come quickly enough and heading into the closing stages, Bochum still had a chance of snatching a point. In a fairly breathless finish every Bochum attack was met by a HSV counter-attack, with both sides looking for that crucial second goal, lacking the coolness and composure needed for that final incisive action. In injury time Bochum threw everything at the home defence, including goalkeeper Riemann, without manufacturing a clear shot at goal, meaning that as referee Dingert ended the game after four added minutes, the Hamburg players threw their arms up in relief, knowing that despite their dominance, it had been a close-run thing.

Game overview

Hamburger SV: Heuer Fernandes - Gyamerah (87’ Vagnoman), Jung, van Drongelen, Leibold - Fein, Dudziak, Kinsombi (66‘ Moritz) - Jatta, Hinterseer, Kittel (80‘ Samperio)

VfL Bochum: Riemann - Bella Kotchap, Lorenz, Decarli, Soares - Losilla, Janelt (68‘ Bapoh) - Weilandt (53‘ Blum), Maier, Lee (75‘ Osei-Tutu) - Ganvoula

Goals: 1-0 Hinterseer (60‘)

Attendance: 41.737

Referee: Christian Dingert (Gries)

Yellow cards: Jatta (62‘) / Lorenz (40‘)

Red cards: - / -