HSV lose 2-1 in dress rehearsal against Rangers

On the pitch, HSV warmed up in special shirts reading “Uns Uwe”, a year and a day since Uwe Seeler passed away, before changing into their brand new third kit. The ‘Rothosen’ were under immediate pressure from their hosts, and in opening stages shaped by a high tempo, it was the hosts who had the first shot on target, but this was confidently saved by goalkeeper Daniel Heuer at the near post (4’). Moments later, Rangers countered down the left and crossed the ball to the back post, but Ianis Hagi could only find the side netting (8’). At the other end, Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer could also only hit the side netting from a tight angle (13’). In the following period, both teams cancelled each other out, and the game was mainly confined to the space between the penalty areas. In the middle of the first half, the hosts created another good goalscoring opportunity, with Kieran Dowell finding himself free in the middle, but his effort was well-saved by Heuer Fernandes who reacted quickly. Hagi then fired the rebound over the crossbar (21’). There was an almost identical situation ten minutes later, as Fashion Sakala drove into the middle from the left and got a shot off, but once again Heuer Fernandes was equal to it and this time it was Abdallah Sima who missed the follow up (31’). Shortly afterwards, Immanuel Pherai had two presentable opportunities from set-pieces, but he missed wide of the right-hand post and then curled an effort onto the roof of the net (34’, 35’). At the other end, the hosts finally made the breakthrough through Sakala, who tucked the ball past Heuer Fernandes from close range (38’). The Scottish side doubled their lead from the penalty spot shortly before half time (45+1’). Guilherme Ramos brought down a Rangers player in the box and captain James Tavernier stepped up to convert the resulting spot kick. This meant the hosts took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room for half time.