Friendly

HSV play out 1-1 draw against Olympiacos in Jenbach

Lukas Hinterseer scored a deserved equaliser in the 87th minute for Hecking’s team after a determined performance against the Greek side.

HSV drew the first game of their training camp in Austria, holding the second-best team in Greece last season to a 1-1 draw. Around 800 fans had packed into the picturesque Donau Arena in Jenbach and were treated to an even content between two well-matched teams, with Olympiacos putting their noses in front in the 80th minute thanks to Ruben Semedo’s header. Substitute Lukas Hinterseer managed to level things up 7 minutes later, grabbing a goal a mere stone’s throw away from where the Austrian grew up.

Jeremy Dudziak played on the right of midfield in the first half and could have put the Rothosen ahead shortly after the half-hour mark

Strong first half – Wood misses from the spot

Dieter Hecking had to do without the services of Aaron Hunt, Jairo Samperio and Julian Pollersbeck in Jenbach, with the ‘keeper suffering with a tight hamstring and the two outfield players getting a full run-out on Saturday against Huddersfield Town in Kitzbühel, around 80km away from Jenbach. After originally being named in the starting line-up, Gideon Jung decided to sit the game out after also feeling a slight tightness in his hamstring during the warm-up. Despite this last-minute alteration HSV started the game better than the side who finished as runners-up in the Greek Super League last season. Lining up in a 4-3-3 formation the Rothosen looked comfortable in possession and managed to create a number of half-chances, with the final pass lacking the necessary accuracy to really threaten the Olympiacos goal. The best chance in the opening minutes fell to the ex-Olympiacos player in the Hamburg ranks. Christoph Moritz recycled the ball after a corner, and after Khaled Narey had laid his cross back into the six-yard area, Papadopoulos found himself all alone, but the centre-half’s shot skewed off the outside of his foot and could only find the side-netting.
At the half-way mark in the first half Bobby Wood had the chance to put his team in front and stake his claim to the starting striker’s position when the season gets underway on July 28th. With Jatta being pushed in the back by Masouras in the box, the American stepped up to take the resulting spot kick but his effort was at an easy height for Olympiacos ‘keeper Tzolakis to parry away. Wood almost made amends moments later, setting Dudziak free with a fine pass but the 23-year-old’s curling effort landed safely in the arms of Tzolakis. As the half wore on the Greeks grew in confidence, with their first Champions League qualifier against Viktoria Pilsen only a few weeks away on July 23rd. Durmishaj and Soldano couldn’t make the most of a number of errors at the back from HSV, with the game remaining scoreless as the two teams went to talk it over.

Lukas Hinterseer managed to slot the ball past Olympiacos 'keeper Siabanis at the second time of asking

Hinterseer counters Semedo’s late strike

As the teams came out for the second half it became clear that Hecking would make one change, with Kittel taking Dudziak’s place in midfield. The new signing breathed life into the game, with substitute ‘keeper Siabanis having to be at his best to spectacularly palm away Kittel’s left-footed drive from the edge of the area. Despite undertaking six changes on the hour mark, HSV’s flow was uninterrupted, with the ball moving nicely for the away team, always testing the Greeks’ defensive resilience.

However, it was the 44-time Greek champions who went ahead against the run of play; Semedo was left unmarked on the penalty spot after a corner from the right-hand side and powered his header past the helpless Mickel in the Hamburg goal. Local boy Lukas Hinterseer wouldn’t allow his side to be beaten in his own back yard, first going close after not quite meeting Jatta’s cross sweetly enough to trouble Siabanis. With three minutes to go Kittel played a fine reverse pass into the Austrian, and, with his chipped effort being parried by Siabanis right back into his path, the former Bochum man had the simple task of passing the ball into the unguarded net. Kittel was at the heart of everything good from HSV in the second period and almost completed the comeback in injury time, were it not for the Greek ‘keeper who denied him for the second time in the match, and kept the score at 1-1.

“Everything considered it was a good test for us and it’s certainly given us as a coaching team a lot to think about. I’m a bit frustrated though as we should have won the game. The result is always important as it gives you trust and confidence. It’s a shame because we let a lot of chances go begging. Then it’s more often than not the case that the one mistake that you make is punished, and that happened here as well. The fresh impetus from our bench put them under pressure in the final quarter and we got our reward with the equaliser,” was manager Dieter Hecking’s summary of proceedings.

This is how the teams lined up:

HSV: Mickel – Gyamerah (62’ Sakai), Papadopoulos (62’ David), van Drongelen, Leibold (62’ Vagnoman) – Moritz (62’ Özcan) – Fein, Dudziak (46’ Kittel) – Narey (62’ Wintzheimer), Jatta – Wood (62’ Hinterseer)

Olympiacos: Tzolakis (64’ Siabanis) – Masouras, Semedo, Papadopoulos, Tsimikas - Soldano (86’ Cuypers), Sourlis (79’ Guilherme), Androutsos (79’ Soudani), Randjelovic (79’ Bouchalakis) - Fortounis, Durmishaj (76’ Masouras)

Goals: 0-1 Semedo (80‘), 1-1 Hinterseer (87‘)

Attendance: 800

Yellow cards: Gyamerah