Match report

HSV fall to Leverkusen 2-1

Hamburg are now ten games without a win. Bailey (40’) and Havertz (50’) scored either side of the break to give Leverkusen the lead, before Andre Hahn cut the lead in half in the 71st minute.

Despite showing a lot of grit and fight, HSV came up just short against Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday afternoon. The visitors got off to the better start, while the Rothosen struggled. Leon Bailey’s goal in the 40th minute was deserved as such. The Werkself also started the second 45 more quickly, and were rewarded for their efforts by Havertz doubling their lead (50’). However, HSV fought themselves back into the game, and Andre Hahn cut the lead in half with 20 minutes left to be played. The comeback was on, but HSV couldn’t quite see it through. The game would finish with Bayer Leverkusen leaving the pitch as 2-1 victors.

HSV fall behind...

HSV coach Bernd Hollerbach made a few changes to the side that faced Borussia Dortmund. Papadopoulos made his return to the centre of defence after his suspension, leaving Jung to take the injured Ekdal’s place in midfield. Salihovic and Arp also started in the places of Hunt and Wood. And Arp was the man who had the game’s first real chance after six minutes had been played. He couldn’t quite make anything of the chance, however. Both sides cancelled each other out as the game’s early stages rolled on, with chances coming few and far between. The game had reached the 26th minutes before the next real chance came, with Aranguiz coming close for Leverkusen. His header would glance off the right post, however. That moment seemed to kick the game into gear, but it was Leverkusen who took the initiative. They weren’t quite dangerous enough to score a goal though - that is until the 40th minute. It was then that Leon Bailey pounced to capitalise on a split second of Douglas Santos indecisiveness and fire his side into the lead. The score would remain 1-0 heading into the break.

... And can’t quite pull it back

The second half got off to a very poor start for the Rothosen, just like the first one ended. It only took six minutes for the guests to add to their lead, after Havertz made no mistake to finish off a cross from the left hand side. HSV didn’t just give up there. In fact, it really kicked them into gear. It did take a while for them to get anything to show for their efforts though, with substitute Hahn getting the goal in the 70th minute. With 20 minutes left to play, the closing stages were very interesting. Bobby Wood had the best chance to get the equaliser, but his shot in added time narrowly missed the target - a tough pill to swallow for Hamburger SV.

MATCH STATS:

Hamburger SV: Mathenia - Mavraj (46’ Hahn), Papadopoulos, van Drongelen - Sakai, Douglas - Jung, Walace - Salihovic (79’ Hunt) - Arp (54’ Wood), Kostic

Bayer 04 Leverkusen: Leno - Retsos, Jedvaj, S. Bender, Wendell (16‘ Henrichs) - Kohr, Aranguiz - Brandt (73‘ Alario), Havertz (87‘ Baumgartlinger), Bailey - Volland

Goals: 0-1 Bailey (40‘), 0-2 Havertz (50‘), 1-2 Hahn (71‘)

Attendance: 45.691

Referee: Dr. Felix Brych (Munich)

Yellow cards: Mavraj (11’), Salihovic (77’) / Retsos (53’), Aranguiz (87’)