Match reaction
10.02.18
"Our courage wasn’t rewarded"
Despite putting in a battling performance, HSV were beaten 2-0 by Borussia Dortmund on matchday 22 in the Bundesliga. We gathered the reaction from some unsurprisingly disappointed Rothosen, plus the BVB coach.
Hamburger SV were on a par with current DFB-Pokal holders Borussia Dortmund for much of Saturday afternoon, but the game still ended in victory for the hosts thanks to second-half goals from Michy Batshuayi and Mario Götze. The Rothosen were obviously disappointed with the result following the game, but tried to take away the positives from a promising display. One thing’s for certain: the HSV boys have no intention of giving up! We gathered the reaction after the match.
Christian Mathenia: We played courageous football that wasn’t rewarded. Football is about results and it hurts not to come away with a point today. We need to step up our game if we want to take something off Leverkusen. We’re lacking a clinical edge in front of goal, while our opponents were very efficient. We need to work on improving that in training.
Andre Hahn: We were committed, fought hard and gave our absolute all. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the goal. We needed a little bit of time to find our feet after their opener, but then we started to build pressure again. We know that we’re capable of fighting back; the team has great character. We threw everything forward at the end and got caught on the counter. We were missing that decisive pass in the final third, which is a pity, because we work a lot on that in training.
Mergim Mavraj: We need to take things one game at a time and learn what we can from this one. There are a lot of positives to take away. It may sound like the same, old bull one week after the next, but we refuse to give up and will continue to fight. It’s not a cliché – it’s the belief we have as a team. We didn’t just park the bus today; we played courageous football against a very good team and gave them a game. I’m a defender – it’s not my job to know what we need to do to make sure we score goals, but the fact is that we need to work on our finishing. Our fans were our saving grace last year and we can only thank them for their patience.
Jens Todt: It’s frustrating to come away with nothing. We worked hard, but at the end of the day, it’s one point dropped. I think the team’s is undergoing a positive development all in all. We didn’t have a clear-cut chance today though because we were lacking the necessary incisiveness. It’s important to take your chances against a side like Dortmund.
Bernd Hollerbach: We knew that we’d be up against a quick team today. We were well organised and attacked with courage, but then in the second half, Dortmund scored with their first chance. It was a different game after that. We had to make attacking changes and then it became a much more open affair. I can’t criticise the team today; they were courageous and didn’t back away from the challenge. They threw everything into it against a side that are still unbeaten under Peter Stöger in the league. For me, what’s decisive is how we perform. If we carry on like that, the results will come.
Peter Stöger: It was a tough game against a well-organised opponent. Our passing game was too slow and not precise enough at times, while Hamburg were always dangerous from set-pieces and we struggled to deal with them. The boys’ commitment was spot on today in a difficult match. It’s a small step forward for us. We’re happy to come away with the three points.