Match report
01.09.19
Trio secure derby win for dominant Hamburg
Hamburger SV managed to win a fourth league game in a row against Hannover 96, with goals from Kittel, Kinsombi and Jatta.
HSV enter the international break unbeaten after goals from Sonny Kittel, David Kinsombi and Bakery Jatta were enough to see off Hannover 96 on Sunday (1st September). On an emotional afternoon at a packed-out Volksparkstadion, 54,732 visitors were treated to a football feast, with quality passing football on show from both sides. After a slow start, the home side entered half-time one to the good after Kittel’s fifth goal in as many games in league and cup. Movement on and off the ball and slick interplay saw a whole host of chances in the second half for the hosts, who doubled their lead on the hour mark through David Kinsombi’s first goal for his new club. Daniel Heuer Fernandes had to be at his best to deny Hannover soon after, only for Bakery Jatta to put the icing on the cake in the 75th minute with a fabulous goal that sparked emotional celebrations on the pitch and in the stands.
Kittel livens up sleepy Hamburg
Dieter Hecking sent out an unchanged side after last Sunday’s 4-2 success in Karlsruhe, with club captain Aaron Hunt returning to the bench after recovering from his adductor muscle problems. Similarly to the last home game against Bochum, the former Hannover manager’s side started lethargically, with the guests imposing themselves on the game early on, during a sustained period of pressure for the first five minutes of the game. With the backing of 54,732 home fans behind them, the Rothosen grew into the game and saw their first chance of the game come through Khaled Narey, who fought his way through the Hannover defence, only to hit his left-footed effort straight at Ron-Robert Zieler in the Hannover goal.
The visitors, who brought around 4,000 fans for the 170-kilometre trip north, looked most dangerous on the counter, with Marvin Ducksch and Hendrik Weydandt staying high, using their pace on the break. Stand-in captain Rick van Drongelen and Gideon Jung had to be aware to cut out a number of dangerous-looking balls on a few occasions. With the away side also pressing high whenever Daniel Heuer Fernandes had the ball, the home side found it difficult to get onto the ball and find their passing rhythm.
As the half wore on the hosts looked more confident, with Jan Gyamerah and Adrian Fein finding pockets of space to collect the ball from their goalkeeper, helping to break the Hannover press. On one of these instances, Gyamerah broke free, feeding his partner Narey down the right, who skipped past Horn and drove to the byline. His cut-back was perfectly weighted to find Sonny Kittel right in the middle of the six-yard box, who had the simplest task of tapping in with Zieler beaten by the cross. The Rothosen almost had a second that would have flattered their first-half efforts, as great one-touch football saw Lukas Hinterseer lay back into the path of David Kinsombi, whose shot on the turn from six yards out was straight at Zieler. With that, Sebastian Dankert blew for half-time, with Hamburg in the ascendancy and deservedly in the lead, but knowing that Hannover were by no means out of it.
Jatta's tenacity rewarded with emotional goal
It was the guests who once again come out of the changing rooms the stronger of the two sides, with Weydandt and Ducksch once again threatening to bring the Green, White and Blacks back into the game. However, they didn’t provide a proper test to Daniel Heuer Fernandes, with Jung and van Drongelen in particular always finding a way to get in front of their man or intervene at the last moment. Having overcome the wave of Hannover attacks, Hamburg once again imposed themselves on the game with Narey particularly impressive down the right-hand side. Sonny Kittel’s run to the near post was rewarded with a wicked ball from Narey, but the former Ingolstadt man couldn’t double his personal tally for the day, with his flick just whizzing over Ron-Robert Zieler’s goal.
Waldemar Anton could not live with Narey’s directness and pace, and another chance down the right flank lead to a Hamburg second. The winger skipped past Anton and fired a powerful effort at Zieler, who could only palm away as far as the waiting David Kinsombi, who passed home from six yards out to open his account for his new side. Having doubled their lead just before the hour-mark, the Rothosen entered somewhat of a slumber, unable to properly grasp the game by the scruff of the neck and kill it off for certain.
A wild ten minutes of action saw a heap of chances fall at both ends. First Austrian international Hinterseer brought the ball down beautifully on his chest, holding off Elez and laying into the path of Kinsombi in one smooth motion. Former Kiel man Kinsombi spread it wide to Jatta, who had ample space to run into, but couldn’t keep his left-footed shot down, which flew harmlessly over Zieler’s bar. Hannover attacked a sleepy Hamburg backline, with Edgar Prib collecting the ball from the Hannover left unmarked on the penalty spot, and Daniel Heuer Fernandes did well to get down to parry his effort away. The rebound fell to Marvin Ducksch, and Fernandes somehow managed to get up quickly enough to smother the striker’s effort, an incredible effort to keep the Hamburg lead in tact. Two corners followed for the away side, with both efforts only just skimming past Fernandes’ goal after last-minute deflections from the men in white.
With Hannover somehow emerging from a frantic passage of play with no reward, the killer blow came a few moments later. The ball found its way to Bakery Jatta, who hammered a right-footed shot past Zieler to spark emotional celebrations on the pitch as well as in the stands, as the whole team gathered round Baka to celebrate. Ten minutes later, as Jatta was replaced by Bobby Wood, the winger had to leave the pitch at the far side, meaning he walked all the way round the pitch back to the bench, accompanied by a standing ovation and a deafening chorus of cheers and songs in support of the HSV player, with a number of supporters unable to contain their emotions. The action on the pitch was merely secondary at this point, and referee Dankert blew his whistle for the final time with no injury time having been played. The home side could perhaps have counted themselves lucky to have gone into the half-time break one to the good, but, aside from Fernandes’ incredible double save, were dominant after the interval and played some lively interchanging football which will have really pleased Hecking. The most complete performance of the season so far sees the Rothosen enter the international break unbeaten with four wins in a row. Next up? None other than bitter rivals St. Pauli.
Game overview
Hamburger SV: Heuer Fernandes - Gyamerah, Jung (76‘ Papadopoulos), van Drongelen, Leibold - Fein, Kinsombi - Narey, Kittel (83’ Hunt), Jatta (87‘ Wood) - Hinterseer
Hannover 96: Zieler - Korb, Franke, Anton, Horn - Bakalorz (60‘ Teuchert), Elez (73‘ Hansson) - Haraguchi, Prib - Ducksch (73‘ Muslija), Weydandt
Goals: 1-0 Kittel (35‘), 2-0 Kinsombi (59‘), 3-0 Jatta (75‘)
Attendance: 54,732
Referee: Bastian Dankert (Rostock)
Yellow cards: - / -
Red cards: - / -