Harmless at the front, faulty at the back - 1. FC Nürnberg missed a surprise at Hamburger SV and is thus still in the relegation mess.
Hamburg (dpa / lby) - Nuremberg's coach Dieter Hecking clapped his team emotionally after the final whistle. He had imagined the return to his old place of work in Hamburg differently. The football pros from 1. FC Nürnberg always tried, but in the end had no chance in the away game of the 2nd Bundesliga at Hamburger SV. The “Club” lost 3-0 to the North German promotion contenders and suffered another setback in the relegation battle. This result "didn't taste good to me," said Hecking after a particularly disappointing offensive performance. "There were phases in it that we can build on, but in the end there is zero."
From Nuremberg's point of view, the 0:2 was particularly bitter and, above all, significant. The "Club" players had the opportunity to clear the ball out of the danger zone several times - they just didn't want to succeed. The beneficiary was Hamburg's Ludovit Reis (52nd). "The 0:2 must not fall like that," said Hecking. In the first half, a converted free kick by Jean-Luc Dompé (19th minute) gave HSV a 1-0 lead. Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer scored the final score in front of 57,000 spectators in the sold-out Volksparkstadion (5/90).
Both sides initially lacked precision on the slippery surface. So it was not surprising that the Hamburg lead resulted from a standard situation. Nuremberg took a long time to get into the game. After all, on the defensive, the Franks didn't allow much against the favorites over long stretches. But up front, Hecking's team had hardly any actions worth mentioning. Only in the 38th minute did Kwadwo Duah seriously test HSV goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes for the first time. The "Club" was lucky when goalkeeper Peter Vindahl scraped a ball off the line that had been thrown off the line by Lino Tempelmann (44').
The hosts made the decision early in the second half. Also because the Franks could not clear the ball, Dompé played exemplary for Reis. Ironically, Hecking had warned in advance of Dompé - and he also praised the Frenchman after the game. "The quality at HSV is extremely high. The offensive department is better than many others in the second division. It's difficult to control everyone there." With the 0:2 from the point of view of the "club" the game was decided. After an alleged HSV goal by Robert Glatzel (72nd) was subsequently denied, Königsdörffer made sure of the final score in added time.
