Hamburger SV got off to a rocket start to the new year in the giant duel in the 2nd league. HSV deservedly won 2-0 (2-0) at the start of the second half of the season at Schalke 04 on Saturday evening, putting itself in a good starting position for the promotion race in the coming months.
As third in the table, Hamburg are only two points behind the new leaders FC St. Pauli.
For HSV coach Tim Walter, the victory in front of 61,992 spectators (sold out) was particularly important. After the first half of the season he was shaky and had to listen again and again to rumors about successor candidates in view of the fluctuating performance of his team, which was outstanding by second division standards. Now he’s getting a little more rest again, which was also helped by the mistake made by second-placed Holstein Kiel (1:2 against Eintracht Braunschweig) on Friday.
After a heated initial phase, HSV dominated the game, but was unable to outplay the Schalke chains with any pressure to go deeper. The opening goal came from the first chance to score: Ignace van der Brempt was allowed to cross from the right – and Immanuel Pherai was free in the middle in a way that no player should ever be in the opponent’s penalty area. He easily beat goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann with a header (22′).
Schalke had to shake themselves vigorously and seek the initiative themselves. Thomas Ouwejan made the crossbar tremble in the 33rd minute with a magnificent 25-meter free kick – as he did again later (74th). But instead of following up, Schalke immediately made it 0-2 – Laszlo Benes (35th) scored his ninth goal of the season with his left foot, and Schalke’s new sports director Marc Wilmots was annoyed. Benes could have even increased the score for HSV, but Tobias Mohr headed his shot clear on the goal line (54′).
The Royal Blues have a serious mortgage to clear in the first half of the season. The lead over Braunschweig, which is in relegation place 16, is only three points.