Training camp
04.01.18
HSV BEAT MALAGA 2-1 IN FRIENDLY
FILIP KOSTIC (7’) AND SEJAD SALIHOVIC (39’) SCORED THE TWO GOALS FOR THE ROTHOSEN WHILE YOUSSEF EN-NESYRI BAGGED THE 22ND MINUTE EQUALISER FOR THE SPANIARDS.
As part of the winter training camp in Jerez, Spain, HSV were able to win their first friendly of the year in front of almost 800 spectators in the Estadio Municipal de La Linea de la Concepcion near Gibraltar, beating top-flight Spanish club FC Malaga 2-1.
HSV manager Markus Gisdol sent his team out in a 4-4-2 formation to start with, led by an attacking duo of Bobby Wood and Andre Hahn. The Rothosen were concise from the off and determined to put quick turnover play, which had been the focus in training, into practice. This determination was soon rewarded, when, seven minutes in, Filip Kostic scored on the rebound to make it 1-0. The goal followed a successful move down the right-wing by Hahn, Waldschmidt and finally Bobby Wood, whose shot towards the far corner was parried out by the Malaga goalkeeper, but only into the path of Filip Kostic who kept his nerve to convert from close range. In an evenly-fought contest the Spaniards’ equaliser was around 15 minutes in the making: forward Youssef En-Nesyri capitalised on a short back pass from Papadopoulos towards Mathenia and finished through the legs of the HSV goalkeeper for 1-1. The equaliser swung the game in Malaga’s favour somewhat, but it was Sejad Salihovic’s tasty left-footed strike in the 39th minute that found the back of the net next, making the half-time score 2-1 to HSV.
SEVERAL CHANGES AND LOTS OF COMBINATION
Markus Gisdol completely reshuffled the pack at half time, making no fewer than eight substitutes. The Rothosen’s flow was not disturbed in the slightest, however, quite the opposite: the players joining the game came out with good body language and combined effectively, keeping the opposition pegged back inside their own half. Albin Ekdal, Fiete Arp and Dennis Diekmeier all missed great chances to build on the lead against a Malaga side, whose seven changes at half time proved to be something of a disadvantage. HSV on the other hand, remained tactically solid as in the first half, changed to a back-three with the introduction of the young Patric Pfeiffer and Jonas Behounek and eventually left the game as deserved winners.
LINE-UP AND STATS:
HSV: Mathenia – Diekmeier (77’ Behounek), Papadopoulos (46’ Jung), van Drongelen (46’ Mavraj), Douglas (46’ Sakai) – Waldschmidt (46’ Hunt), Janjiicic (77’ Pfeiffer), Salihovic (46’ Ekdal), Kostic (46’ Ito, 84’ Jatta) – Hahn (46’ Arp, 84’ Schipplock), Wood (46’ Holtby).
Goals: 1-0 Kostic (7’), 1-1 En-Nesyri (22’) 2-1 Salihovic (39’)
Yellow cards: Papadopoulos (32’), Rosales (71’), Hunt (79’), Cifuentes (87’)
Attendance: 800
MATCH REACTION:
Andre Hahn: We were able to put a lot of our work into practice today, even though coordination, concentration and fresh legs were lacking a little. Obviously the preparation has been difficult, but that’s the point of the training camp. It was very important for us to win the game today, not least psychologically. Now we will continue to work at reducing those mistakes.
Rick van Drongelen: I think we can be altogether happy with that friendly. We worked on turning defence into attack a lot in training and the build-up to our second goal was a good example of this. It was good that every player get some game time today and we didn’t have to play the full 90 minutes after some tough training sessions in the past few days.
Markus Gisdol: We managed to give every player a run out and divide up game time well. Furthermore, we played with a back four then a back three and showed several other positive aspects. In the second half we failed to score the third goal, but aside from this it was a successful friendly. I was also impressed with the hard input from my team: we gave them nothing and really went for it. That’s what you want in a friendly.