Föhrenbach ends Hamburg home unbeaten run

Rothosen struggle to break down organised Heidenheim

Hamburg looked to improve on the loss to Osnabrück a week previously by making three changes, with Timo Letschert, Bakery Jatta and Aaron Hunt replacing Gideon Jung, Bobby Wood and Christoph Moritz. The tone of the game was set from the outset, with Heidenheim's backline sitting deep but allowing large gaps between the first line of pressing and the deep-lying defence, meaning Hamburg had to work hard in midfield to free themselves. The away side were looking to feed off any scraps they could work on, and almost took a surprising lead with their first foray into the Hamburg half. Tim Leibold's header inadvertedly fell into the path of Tim Kleindienst, who struck the ball beautifully on the half-volley from the edge of the area to strike the base of Daniel Heuer Fernandes' post. The Rothosen looked most threatening when Heidenheim pressed too high up the pitch, exposing the space in behind. Bakery Jatta did well to get past his man and to the byline, but Martin Harnik's shot from the edge of the area struck his standing leg and dribbled harmlessly wide of Kevin Müller's goal. As the half wore on, the home side became increasingly more efficient in breaking the first line of the press from the guests, with notable chances for Jatta, Dudziak and Hunt, yet all three failed to really sting the palms of Heidenheim 'keeper Müller. As such the teams entered the interval unable to be separated, despite 70% possession for the hosts.