Match report

HSV record a deserved 2-1 win in Ingolstadt

Hamburger SV defeated Ingolstadt on Matchday 15 as Die Rothosen won an entertaining game 2-1 thanks to goals from Aaron Hunt and Hee-chan Hwang.

HSV won by a narrow margin in Ingolstadt but despite the scoreline, the win was thoroughly deserved. Die Rothosen also had to dig in against Ingolstadt to come away with another three points to remain league leaders. Aaron Hunt put the away side ahead in the 28th minute before Hee-chan Hwang doubled the lead after the interval. The win looked certain at this point before Fatih Kaya brought Ingolstadt back into the game with a header only minutes after Hwang had doubled the lead. This goal gave the home side some hope and upped the tempo as a result but HSV held firm to bring the three points back to Hamburg.

Aaron Hunt was not only influential in the build up play but also chipped in with a goal

Hunt with the opening goal…

There was big change at FC Ingolstadt during the week. Head coach Alexander Nouri was sacked and replaced by Jans Keller, who officially takes over on Monday, leaving interim coach Roberto Pätzold to take over for today’s game. Pätzold tried to mix things up and made six changes while Hannes Wolf only made the one change: David Bates coming in for Lacroix. The HSV defence was not called into action very often at the beginning of the game as most of the action was at the other end of the pitch. Despite having over 70 percent possession, Ingolstadt defended deep preventing any real chances for Die Rothosen. In these kind of games, set pieces can be crucial. This was exactly the case today as Aaron Hunt fired in a great free kick from roughly 25 yards to give the away side the lead. This goal was also crucial as it dampened the mood of the invigorated home side, who had their game plan thrown out of the window with the goal. HSV ought to have doubled their lead when Bakery Jatta was in acres of space but his effort crashed against the bar. Die Rothosen went into the break with a slender, but deserved lead.

Hee-chan Hwang was always busy up front and his efforts were rewarded with the second goal

…but nerves at the end

The Rothosen thought they had wrapped up the victory shortly after the break as Hee-chan Hwang scored the second of the game. However, Ingolstadt never gave up hope of a comeback and continued to be dangerous from set pieces. The home side had two or three really good chances to score from set pieces before Kaya converted one of these chances with a good header to reduce the arrears in the 54th minute. Ingolstadt then sensed that they could get something from the game and started to up the pressure, but this left them susceptible to the counter attack. Narey, Santos and Jatta all had chances to kill the game off on the counter. Despite the Ingolstadt pressure, HSV defended well against lots of long balls and could also rely on Pollersbeck to make some great saves. The HSV number one came up with a huge save at the death to give the away side another win on the road. This was the sixth win in seven away games as HSV maintain their place at the top of the league.

Match overview:

FC Ingolstadt: Buntic - Ananou, Kotzke, Gimber, Gaus - Pintidis (83‘ Kerschbaumer), Cohen - Osawe, Kittel - Kutschke (46’ Röcher), Kaya (66’ Lezcano)

Hamburger SV: Pollersbeck - Sakai, Lacroix, van Drongelen, Santos - Mangala - Narey (85‘ Arp), Hunt, Holtby (68’ Janjicic), Jatta - Hwang (90’+2 Lacroix)

Goals: 0-1 Hunt (28‘), 0-2 Hwang (51‘), 1-2 Kaya (54‘)

Attendance: 13,500

Referee: Tobias Reichel (Stuttgart)

Yellow cards: Kutschke (17‘), Gaus (63‘), Kotzke (78‘), Kittel (90‘+3)/ Holtby (34‘), Narey (73‘), Janjicic (76‘)

Yellow-red cards: -

Red cards: -