Match Report

HSV lose 2-0 to Hoffenheim

Despite a fighting effort, HSV fell to TSG Hoffenheim 2-0 on Saturday afternoon. The Rothosen were pegged back early by an extremely offensively strong Hoffenheim side and could never claw their way back even with the lion’s share of the possession.

Serge Gnabry (18’) and Adam Szalai (27’) were the goalscorers for the men from Kraichgau and their goals proved to be too much for HSV to overcome. The hosts’ attacking force was extremely hard for the Rothosen to deal with in the opening half an hour, while they couldn’t quite finish off the chances they created themselves. Hoffenheim had no such problems, who had two goals disallowed on top of the pair that did count. A good performance, but no points.

Ambitious going forward…

Christian Titz selected almost exactly the same side to play Hoffenheim to the one that defeated Schalke at home last week. Gideon Jung was the only new face, as he replaced the suspended Papadopoulos. The Rothosen put on a courageous attacking display against a Hoffenheim side that is strong at home, but it was their defensive display that proved to be their downfall. The quick counter-attacks from the home side gave HSV problems from the outset and were too much for them to stop. Gnabry bagged the opener off such an attack in the 18th minute, thanks to some strong build-up play from Kaderabek. Szalai then doubled the lead after Schulz’s solo run down the left wing – a lead that would not be overcome (27’).

Head coach Christian Titz decided to bring on Albin Ekdal for Steinmann in defensive midfield as a result, and that didn’t stop the Rothosen from pushing to claw their way back into the game. They could only create a few chances, however, and never got close to replicating the cutting edge that their opponents possessed which led to them also hitting the woodwork twice to end the first half.

… but overmatched in defence

Hoffenheim dug in to defend their lead in the second half, and allowed Hamburg to control the flow of the game. HSV had much more possession as a result. Despite some good attacking moves, HSV just lacked the final pass they needed to create any meaningful threat to the Hoffenheim goal. It was again the hosts who had the pick of the chances. Akpoguma put the ball in the net from a corner, but it was rightly disallowed due to offside.

Titz brought on Arp and Salihovic to try and turn the game in HSV’s favour towards the end, but it wasn’t enough. Despite giving their all, the Rothosen travel back to Hamburg empty handed.

Match stats:
TSG Hoffenheim: Baumann - Nordtveit, Vogt, Hübner - Kaderabek, Grillitsch (70‘ Rupp), Schulz - Amiri (78‘ Demirbay) - Kramaric, Szalai, Gnabry (58‘ Akpoguma)
Hamburger SV: Pollersbeck - Sakai, Jung, van Drongelen (76‘ Salihovic), Douglas - Steinmann (33‘ Ekdal) - Kostic, Holtby, Waldschmidt (63’ Arp), Ito - Hunt
Goals: 1-0 Gnabry (18‘), 2-0 Szalai (27‘)

Attendance: 30.150 (sold-out)
Referee: Harm Osmers (Hannover)
Yellow cards: Amiri (64‘) / Douglas (51‘), Jung (85‘)
Red cards: None