HSV comeback in vain as VfB victorious in Kufstein

Despite the best efforts of HSV, a 3-0 first-half lead for VfB Stuttgart couldn’t be surmounted as the Swabians won their first game of the Helden Cup on Wednesday afternoon (26th August). The Rothosen had a bright first-half but were unable to turn possession into chances and were made to pay for some slack defending by a ruthless Stuttgart team. Klimowicz opened the scoring in the 9th minute and could have doubled his tally on the half-hour when left one-on-one with stopper Daniel Heuer Fernandes. The Hamburg stopper came out on top on that occasion, but only two minutes later conceded a second goal after a long ball from the back wasn’t deal with by the Hamburg backline and was finished superbly by Stuttgart bagsman Nicolás González. The Argentinian showed his class again in the 39th minute, as Claus Gjasula was robbed of possession in the VfB half, and, spotting Heuer Fernandes off his line, González planted the ball into the back of the net from all of 50 yards. The Rothosen got going in an attacking sense on the stroke of half-time, as a strong run from Bakery Jatta down the right led to an inviting cross for Simon Terodde, who placed past Fabian Bredlow for his first goal on debut for HSV.

Substitute Khaled Narey made a strong impression in the second half and was responsible for halving the deficit just after the hour mark. The 26-year-old’s curling free-kick could only be parried by Bredlow as far as fellow substitute Manuel Wintzheimer, who headed into the net for his second goal in as many games. With the clock winding down, it was set-piece situations which looked like HSV’s best opportunity at snatching an equaliser, as Bobby Wood rose highest to a Tim Leibold corner, but couldn’t direct his header on target. Al Ghaddioui had the best chance of the half for the Swabians seven minutes from time, powering his effort just past the left-hand post, but it mattered little as the final whistle sounded soon after. Daniel Thioune summarised after the game that his charges had made life difficult for themselves. “It became apparent that our opponents didn’t cause us many problems, but in the decisive moments we committed individual errors. It’s difficult to come back after that, but we were a lot more stable in the second half. My team reacted in exactly the way I would have wanted.” You can watch highlights of the game here.

Game overview
HSV: Heuer Fernandes (63‘ Mickel) - Vagnoman (76‘ Opoku), David, Ambrosius, Leibold - Gjasula (76‘ Wood), Hunt (46‘ Onana) - Kittel (46‘ Narey), Kinsombi (46‘ Dudziak), Jatta (63‘ Hinterseer) - Terodde (46‘ Wintzheimer)
VfB: Bredlow - Stenzel, Anton (46’ Aidonis), Kaminski, Sosa (46’ Churlinov) - Endo (46’ Mack), Klement - Wamangituka (46’ Cisse), Klimowicz (46‘ Al Ghaddioui), Castro (46‘ Didavi) - González (46‘ Coulibaly)
Goals: 0-1 Klimowicz (9‘), 0-2 González (32‘), 0-3 González (39‘), 1-3 Terodde (43‘), 2-3 Wintzheimer (66‘)