Match Report

Ruthless performance in Nuremberg secures HSV first win of the season

Two goals in each half saw HSV return from Nuremberg with all three points, and deservedly secured the first win of the season.

HSV emerged from the first away game of the season victorious, rewarding the fans for making the 1300km round-trip on Monday evening (5th August) with an all-round performance. A sweet strike from Jeremy Dudziak and a well-placed Sonny Kittel free-kick gave the Rothosen a two-goal half-time lead, before a third from Narey and an own-goal from Nuremberg’s Handwerker secured the victory after the hosts had emerged strongly at the start of the second period. Perhaps more pleasing for Dieter Hecking will be how blunt Nuremberg’s attack seemed in the face of robust and tidy defending from the whole of the Hamburg defensive unit.

Jeremy Dudziak opened his account for the Rothosen in the 12th minute, setting the tone for the rest of the game.

Dudziak and Kittel lay the foundations

Head coach Dieter Hecking made two changes compared to the first game of the new campaign against Darmstadt last Sunday, with the fit-again Gideon Jung taking the place of Kyriakos Papadopoulos at centre-half, and Sonny Kittel filling in for Khaled Narey, with Bakery Jatta swapping wings to accommodate the new signing from Ingolstadt. On a balmy summer evening in Franconia, the guests started on the front foot, roared on by the 4,000-strong away following, and, unlike last time out against Darmstadt, made the most of the early pressure in the 12th minute. Tim Leibold exchanged passes with Lukas Hinterseer before driving inside and laying off to fellow new signing Jeremy Dudziak. A stepover saw him free his man, shifting it onto his left foot before powering the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of Christian Mathenia’s goal from the edge of the D. The pressure from the guests was unrelenting, with full-backs Leibold and Gyamerah particularly strong in repelling attacks from the hosts and counter-attacking with pace and precision.

Another incision from Leibold saw the ex-Nuremberg man felled, and he collected his second assist of the game, as Kittel repaid the faith his manager had shown in him. With a move clearly designed on the training ground, three HSV men stood in the Nuremberg defensive wall. As Kittel stepped up, his three teammates ducked as the ball sailed over their heads, heading for the far-right corner. Ex-HSV man Mathenia had fatally taken a step to the right, and, by the time he had realised his mistake, couldn’t adjust to keep out Sonny’s first goal for his new club, as HSV doubled their lead on the half-hour. In the final quarter of an hour of the first period the home side grew into the game, winning a number of corners and troubling Daniel Heuer Fernandes’ goal for the first time in the game. Another ex-HSV player, Hanno Behrens had the ball in the net but was in a clear offside position and Dieter Hecking could use the example to rouse his troops at half-time, knowing that the two-goal lead was by no means secure.

Narey (l.) celebrates the Hamburg third with Gyamerah (r.), which sealed the first win on the new campaign.

Narey seals the deal

And Hecking was proven right, with the hosts carrying on from where they left off, gaining more time in possession and enjoying a number of dangerous dead-ball situations after the restart. A corner almost saw the Hamburg lead cut in half, as the ball fell to Medeiros and the Portuguese’s curling effort looked dangerous in real-time, but on second viewing was well-wide of the Hamburg goal. Unbeknownst to Daniel Heuer Fernandes at the time, that would be the last real effort on his goal and his gloves would remain untouched for the rest of the game. Dudziak was involved again, as Hamburg re-took the initiative, playing a fine reverse-pass into Hinterseer, but Mathenia was out quickly to smother the Austrian’s attempt. The ball broke to Narey, and his acrobatic effort looked to be nestling in the Nuremberg net, before a fine acrobatic save from Mathenia prevented the substitute from getting on the scoresheet.

The game was wrapped up soon after, as Narey got his reward for an energetic performance off the bench. With Nuremberg pushing more bodies forward, there was space for Sonny Kittel to break down the left-hand side, and, having tied Margreitter in knots, he laid the ball back to the waiting Narey. The winger made no mistake this time, driving low and hard past Mathenia to completely silence the Max-Morlock-Stadion and open his account for the new season. The best was yet to come, with the impressive Adrian Fein playing the ball into Kittel from a quickly-taken corner, who returned the favour with a delightful back-heel right in behind the Nuremberg defence and into Fein’s path. The midfielder, on-loan from Bayern Munich, drove into the box, and fired the ball across to Jan Gyamerah at the far post. Tim Handwerker got there before the ex-Bochum man, but could only turn into his own net to kill the game off and give the Rothosen their fourth of the evening in the 81st minute. That goal was the signal for the home fans to start to head for the exit, and the Hamburg players headed over to the 4,000 travelling fans as the final whistle blew, showing their appreciation for the boisterous atmosphere throughout the game. The focus for both teams now turns to the DFB Cup, with Nuremberg facing Ingolstadt on Friday night, and HSV travelling to Chemnitz on Sunday tea-time.

Game overview

1. FC Nürnberg: Mathenia - Margreitter, Erras, Sörensen - Sorg, Handwerker - Behrens, Jäger (36‘ Ishak) - Medeiros (69‘ Kerk), Dovedan - Hack (69‘ Palacios)

Hamburger SV: Heuer Fernandes - Gyamerah, Jung, van Drongelen, Leibold - Fein - Dudziak (75‘ Kinsombi), Hunt - Kittel (82‘ Jairo), Jatta (65‘ Narey) - Hinterseer

Goals: 0:1 Dudziak (12‘), 0:2 Kittel (30‘), 0:3 Narey (72‘), 0:4 Handwerker (og, 81‘)

Attendance: 44,497

Referee: Harm Osmers (Hannover)

Yellow cards: Handwerker (45‘) / Dudziak (64‘)

Red cards: - / -