1. FC Heidenheim and Hamburger SV shared the points in a wild top game in the 2nd Bundesliga on Saturday evening (02/11/2023). The duel seemed decided at the break, but then HSV came back.
With the 3: 3 (3: 0) both teams underpinned their promotion ambitions, but could have put even more pressure on Darmstadt 98: The leaders of the table have Eintracht Braunschweig as guests on Sunday.
“The first half was bottomless”
“I think it’s amazing that we didn’t give up. We threw everything forward, it feels like a win”said Glatzel on Sky: “The first half was unbelievable from us, we didn’t fight at all.” Hamburg coach Tim Walter said: “We can really only beat ourselves – we almost did that in the first half. But in the end we showed what kind of power we can unleash – and it really can’t be stopped.”
The game initially started quite evenly. HSV had their first top chance in the 8th minute when Glatzel hit the right post with his hidden shot from 17 meters out. After that, the hosts increased the number of shots every minute and could have taken the lead in the 20th minute: Hamburg keeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes fished Florian Pick’s long-range shot out of the corner.
FCH suddenly in a rush to play
The balance of power then shifted more and more clearly to the Heidenheim side, and Frank Schmidt’s team got into a real frenzy. The now well-deserved lead followed in the 27th minute: Tim Kleindienst staged Denis Thomalla from the right, whose tackle Jan-Niklas Beste extended past the puzzled Heuer Fernandes into the far corner. Only three minutes later, Hamburg again neglected the cover work on the wing, Marnon Busch crossed unhindered to the second post, where Jan Schöppner only had to turn his head – the 2-0.
HSV almost fell apart completely and should have been 3-0 down in the 37th minute. But first the crossbar saved against Kleindienst, then Sebastian Schonlau scraped Pick’s margin off the goal line. But what was probably Hamburg’s worst half of the season was not yet over. Four minutes before the change of sides, Kleindienst was able to walk through the visitors’ defense again, elegantly turned around Javi Montero and pushed into the far corner to make it 3-0.
Heidenheim’s Tim Kleindienst makes it 3-0 against HSV
Walter changes twice
HSV coach Tim Walter reacted to the disastrous performance and brought in Sonny Kittel and László Bénes for the creative department at the break. For a quarter of an hour there was also a little increased pressure, but it was hardly ever dangerous for Kevin Müller’s goal. After an hour it looked more like the first round: Heidenheim could have added several more, but first Pick threw the ball free with a full instep over the goal (63′), then Kleindienst let himself be blocked (65′), and Kevin Sessa missed the next 100% seconds later.
HSV wobbled menacingly again, but this time benefited from Walter’s substitutions: Joker Bénes crossed in the 71st minute to Joker András Németh, who had come into the game five minutes earlier and headed in to make it 1:3. Ex-Heidenheimer Robert Glatzel then caused high tension again ten minutes before the end when he hit the left corner from 18 meters to make it 2: 3, which is worth seeing.
Jatta hits the corner
Hamburg continued to put pressure on and increasingly exposed their defense again – but Heidenheim played the good counter chances far too unfocused to the end. That actually took revenge: In the 88th minute, after a combination via Noah Katterbach and Ludovit Reis, the ball landed at Bakery Jatta, who pulled into the penalty area from the right and brilliantly circled the ball into the long corner to make it 3:3. In the end, the game didn’t have a winner – but 15,000 winners in the stands, who were able to experience a great spectacle.
Hamburg against Bielefeld, Heidenheim against Nuremberg
HSV meets Bielefeld at home on Matchday 21 (Sunday, February 19, 2023 at 1:30 p.m.). At the same time Heidenheim also plays in their own stadium against Nuremberg.