TSG Hoffenheim missed the chance to take a step towards the Europa League playoffs. TSG lost to Tottenham Hotspur after a weak start.
An improvement in performance in the second half was not enough for TSG Hoffenheim to score points against Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. The Bundesliga team lost 2:3 (0:2) against the guests from London on Thursday evening (January 23rd).
Early shock for Hoffenheim from Maddison
The game was less than three minutes old when Hoffenheim’s goalkeeper Oliver Baumann had to reach behind him for the first time. Tottenham’s right-back Pedro Porro played a pass from his own half sensitively over the Hoffenheim defense line into the path of James Maddison, who received the ball with the first contact and finished with the second over Baumann to make it 0-1. Kevin Akpoguma had previously let Maddison escape behind him.
TSG barely got into duels in the early stages; Spurs were much more determined. In the 12th minute, Richarlison tested Baumann with a shot from a half-right position, Porro put the ball free-standing to the right of the post from 16 meters (14th) and Heung-Min Son’s attempt landed over the crossbar of the Hoffenheim goal (16th). .
Heung-Min Son increases for Spurs
In the 22nd minute, the guests from North London followed up. After the Kraichgauer lost the ball, Maddison served Son, who had started out, whose shot was deflected unstoppable by Pavel Kaderabek for Baumann – the score was 0-2. A few moments earlier, Tottenham’s Rodrigo Bentancur had received the ball from close range in his own penalty area; there was neither a penalty nor any VAR intervention.
Only after conceding the second goal did TSG create their own chances to score; Max Moerstedt twice (26th/40th) and twice Tom Bischof (27th/33rd) were unable to beat Spurs keeper Brandon Austin. In the 45th minute, Oliver Baumann made a strong save against Lucas Bergvall’s header to ensure that they didn’t go into the locker room with a greater deficit. Finn Becker missed the last chance to reduce the deficit in the first half from a central position around eleven meters in front of the goal.
Andrej Kramaric hits the crossbar and a penalty is conceded
In the first ten minutes after the break there was hardly anything offensive from Tottenham, Hoffenheim dictated the game. The best chance came from Andrej Kramaric, who hit the crossbar of the visitors’ goal with his head after a Kaderabek cross (55′). A minute later, a shot from Anton Stach went past Brandon Austin’s box on the left. And Tom Bischof, who will move to FC Bayern Munich in the summermissed the next goal with his curling shot by just half a meter (60th).
Things got strange in the 62nd minute. After a collision between Moerstedt and keeper Austin in the guests’ six-yard box, referee Morten Krogh pointed to the penalty spot. Andrej Kramaric was already ready to execute when the referee was sent to the review area. There Krogh saw that Austin was fingertips first on the ball and then there was an unfortunate collision with Moerstadt. The penalty was rightly taken back.
Anton Stach gives Hoffenheim hope
TSG kept up the pressure and were rewarded in the 68th minute. After winning the ball in their own penalty area, the Bundesliga 15th team played a counterattack perfectly: Stach to Kramaric, Kramaric to Jurasek, Jurasek to Stach – who tipped the cross into the far corner to make it 1-2.
But in the middle of Kraichgauer’s Sturm und Drang phase, Stanley Nsoki played a bad pass with consequences. Heung-Min Son got the ball, shot from a half-left position with his left and hit the bottom right corner perfectly to make it 1:3 (77th). Hoffenheim didn’t give up and even came close again. In the 88th minute, Kramaric crossed to substitute David Mokwa, who headed in his first European Cup game to make it 2-3. It wasn’t enough for the Hoffenheim team. After seven games, TSG still has six points and only has a theoretical chance of finishing among the top 24 teams.
Tottenham are followed by Frankfurt and Anderlecht
TSG Hoffenheim continues in the Bundesliga with the home game against Eintracht Frankfurt. The duel between the two Europa League participants will kick off on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. On the following Thursday (9:00 p.m.) the eighth matchday of the EL league phase will be against the Belgian representative RSC Anderlecht for the last chance to make it into the playoffs for the round of 16.
