Match report
16.03.19
Last-minute loss against Darmstadt
HSV lost their grip on a 2-0 lead at home against Darmstadt and conceded the winner in injury time to lose 3-2.
Hamburger SV missed the chance to beat Darmstadt 98 on Saturday 16th March at home on Matchday 26. HSV dominated proceedings at the start of the match in front of 54,668 spectators in the virtually sold-out Volksparkstadion and were leading 2-0 after only around a quarter of an hour through goals from Bakery Jatta (5’) and Pierre-Michel Lasogga (16’), before the guests fought their way back over the course of the second half. Marvin Mehlem scored Darmstadt’s first goal in the 52nd minute and Tobias Kempe scored the equaliser with a direct free-kick in the 82nd minute, which kicked off a frantic end to the match, in which HSV couldn’t find the back of the net and instead conceded the final blow in injury time when Mehlem scored his second of the day.
AN EXCITING START…
Head coach Hannes Wolf made only one change to the starting XI who won the derby 4-0 in the previous week – Bakery Jatta returned to the starting line-up in place of the injured Aaron Hunt (thigh injury). The decision to select the Gambian paid off after just five minutes, as the 20-year-old headed home a fine free-kick crossed in by Berkay Özcan to open the scoring. Hamburg controlled the tempo of the game in the minutes following Jatta’s goal and put Darmstadt under some early pressure.
Overall, it was an extremely dominant first quarter of an hour, which was topped off with a deserved second goal at this early point. A foul on Narey in the box lead to a penalty, which Pierre-Michel Lasogga boldly put past the keeper (16’). After the high-tempo start to the game, Wolf’s men shifted down a gear and tried to maintain their lead without losing control over the match. The Rothosen let the opponents run, but the opponents were missing something in attack and as referee Florian Badsäbner whistled for half-time, there were no more big moments in front of either goal as HSV defended solidly.
…AND A DISAPPOINTING SECOND HALF!
HSV made life difficult for themselves from the off in the second half. Playing against a much more aggressive, pressing Darmstadt than in the first half, the Rothosen allowed themselves to be unnecessarily careless, enabling the opponents to score their first goal through Marvin Mehlem (52’). This suddenly minimised Hamburg’s comfortable lead and through the game completely open again. And it became clear after this goal how much it had affected the Hamburg players’ frame of mind.
The passes started to become less fluid than they were in the first half and a few hairy situations had to be dealt with at the back, including Yannick Stark hitting the post for the away team (70’). Thus came the 2-2 equaliser from Tobias Kempe with a direct free kick from the edge of the box in the 82nd minute. The goal didn’t come as a complete surprise. This goal initiated a frantic end to the match, in which HSV threw everything they had at trying to find a winner, but just couldn’t find one. Instead, Darmstadt’s final counterattack made sure that they completely turned the game on its head as they scored the winner in the second minute of added time. It was Mehlem again who hit the target, grabbing the winner for Darmstadt with his right foot – a result which would have been unthinkable at half-time.
MATCH SUMMARY:
Hamburger SV: Pollersbeck - Sakai, Bates, van Drongelen, Santos - Janjicic - Narey (57’ Ito), Özcan (65’ Holtby), Mangala, Jatta - Lasogga (78’ Arp)
SV Darmstadt 98: Heuer Fernandes - Herrmann, Franke, Wittek, Holland - Palsson (80‘ Wurtz), Kempe - Heller (70‘ Bertram), Mehlem, Jones (32‘ Stark) - Dursun
Goals: 1-0 Jatta (5‘), 2-0 Lasogga (16‘), 2-1 Mehlem (52‘), 2-2 Kempe (82‘), 2-3 Mehlem (90‘+2)
Attendance: 54.668
Referee: Florian Badstübner (Windsbach)
Yellow cards: - / Holland (1‘), Mehlem (90‘+3)
Yellow-red cards: - / -
Red cards: - / -