Bundesliga
BVB slip to defeat at HSV
Borrusia Dortmund suffered a 3-0 (1-0) defeat at the hands of Hamburger SV in a hard-fought match on Saturday. Jiracek, Lasogga and Calhanoglou scored the goals to give the hosts a deserved win in a game in which BVB were denied by goalkeeper Adler on more than one occasion as well as the woodwork.
Dennis-Julian Gottschlich reporting from Hamburg
In front of a capacity crowd of 57,000 at Imtech Arena, BVB struggled to create any meaningful chances in a cagey first half, with Jiracek punishing them for their complacency three minutes before the interval. Lasogga doubled the lead on 58 minutes before Calhanoglou sealed the win for the hosts in stoppage time with a 40-yard free-kick.
The Scenario:
Third-placed Borussia Dortmund travelled to 17th Hamburg who played their first game under new coach Mirko Slomka. The home side had been on an eight-game losing streak, while BVB went into the game on an unbeaten run in the second half of the season, though they had lost five of their previous seven games at HSV.
Personnel Matters:
Jürgen Klopp made one change to the team that beat Frankfurt last week, with Bender starting in place of Kehl. The Dortmund coach still had to do without Blaszczykowski, Gündogan, Hummels and Subotic, but had Reus available again who started on the bench. HSV were without their skipper van der Vaart as well as Ilicevic, Demirbay, Mancienne and Beister
Tactics:
While Klopp stuck to his tried and tested 4-2-3-1 formation (in the first half), Slomka deployed a 4-4-2 with two defensive lines of four closing down the spaces, making it difficult for Borussia to create clear-cut chances. When in possession, HSV switched to a 4-2-3-1, with the powerful Lassoga taking on a central role up front. In the second half, BVB reverted to a 4-3-3 with Sahin in the centre.
The Game & Analysis:
Against a deep-lying defence, the Black n Yellows struggled from the start to find space for their fluid passing game, with most of their attacks comfortably dealt with by the Hamburg defenders. Especially Schmelzer and Piszczek tried to penetrate the defence with crosses from the wings, though they rarely managed to find a teammate in the centre.
The only chance of note in the opening stages fell to Mkhitaryan who tried his luck with a shot from the edge of the box, but his effort was deflected for a corner by Djourou (19 mins). The home side had created their first opportunity a few minutes earlier when Jiracek dribbled past a defender in the box, but his 12-yard effort failed to cause Weidenfeller any problems - neither did a Badelj shot from outside the box on 35 minutes.
This changed shortly before the break when Lasogga tricked himself past two defenders inside the box before crossing the ball from the by-line to find the on-rushing Jiracec to head the home side 1-0 in front from close range (42 mins.).
In an effort to inject some life into his side, Jürgen Klopp brought on attacking midfielder Reus for defensive midfielder Bender at half-time. And REus made an immediate impact when he went close with a strike from 18 yards (50 mins) as BVB now looked to get a foothold in the game. But it was the home side that scored next when Arslan won the ball in midfield before laying the ball off to Lasogga who coolly slotted past Weidenfeller and into the bottom corner to double the advantage for Hamburg (58 mins.).
Eager to strike back quickly, Borussia upped the pace and could have pulled one back when Aubameyang had an opportunity from inside the box, but HSV keeper Adler did well to keep out the shot. Duksch saw a well-struck effort blocked by a HSV defender (70 mins), while Piszczek came close with a header that was tipped onto the crossbar by Adler (71). The Black n Yellows threw everything at HSV, but just couldn’t find a way through their stubborn defence. In stoppage time, the hosts even scored a third when Calhanoglou found the net with great free-kick from 40 yards.
Teams & Goals
Bundesliga, Matchday 22
HAMBURGER SV – BORUSSIA DORTMUND 3-0 (1-0)
Hamburger SV: Adler – Westermann, Djourou, Rajkovic, Jansen – Badelj, Arslan – Rincon, Calhanoglu, Jiracek – Lasogga
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller – Piszczek, Friedrich, Sokratis, Schmelzer – Sahin, Bender – Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan, Großkreutz – Lewandowski
Substitutions: 86. Zoua for Lasogga - 46. Reus for Bender, 67. Ducksch for Lewandowski, 75. Hofmann for Großklreutz
Goals: 1-0 Jiracek (42., Lasogga), 2-0 Lasogga (58., Arslan), 3-0 Calhanoglu (90.+1, free-kick)
Corners: 3-6 (HT 0-2), Chances: 5-5 (2-2)
Referee: Dr. Brych (Munich), Yellow cards: Rincon, Zoua - Aubameyang, Reus
Attendance: 57,000 (sold-out), Weather: cloudy, 7 degrees Celsius
Prospects:
On Tuesday (25 February; kick-off, due to time difference: 1800 CET), BVB travel to St Petersburg to play Zenit in the Champions League before they welcome Nuremberg to SIGNAL IDUNA PARK four days later in the Bundesliga (Saturday, 1 March, KO: 1530 CET).