With Svensson on the left side of the back three and Beier on the left flank (team news), and in the usual 3-4-3 formation, BVB took on an HSV side that, when out of possession, initially only pressed behind the halfway line and kept their own half compact. So from the very start, it was black-and-yellow powerplay. Nmecha fired just over the bar from 20 meters, and Guirassy was more accurate in the next attack: he took Karetsas’ pass from a slightly right-sided position, exactly 16.9 meters from goal, and drilled it low into the bottom-left corner at 101.4 km/h (9′).
Black and yellow gave their opponents hardly any room to breathe, pressed intensely after losing possession, created more top chances through Karetsas (10’/33′), and got the stadium rocking. Heuer Fernandes saved Karetsas’ thunderous strike with his foot and prevented the second goal (41′). The atmosphere at the sold-out SIGNAL IDUNA PARK, packed with 81,365 spectators, was extraordinary. And it is usually outstanding…
The stadium exploded when Konstantelias made it 2:0 in stoppage time. Beier, who had seconds earlier cleared off the line after an HSV free-kick (the goal would not have counted anyway due to offside), received the ball from Svensson, broke through down the left wing, and passed to Konstantelias, whose shot, slightly deflected by Bornauw, ended up in the net. With a tally of 14:0 in shots and 68 percent possession, as well as a thoroughly deserved 2:0 lead, the teams headed into the dressing rooms.
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The game continued at a furious pace. Kobel expertly dealt with Grönbaek’s tricky shot (49′), and at the other end Karetsas was denied by Heuer Fernandes, while Konstantelias sent the rebound just wide of the left post (50′). Unfortunately, that was his penultimate action. Shortly afterward, he was injured while trying to nick the ball from Jatta and had to be replaced by Sabitzer.
Throughout the second half – even before the substitution – BVB were unable to match the intense, thrilling display of the first 45 minutes. Hamburg, however, were also more active than in the first half. And so it became an open game in which HSV came close to pulling one back: Daka shot narrowly wide (67′). Kovac responded with a triple substitution: Mane, Inacio and Veerman replaced Ryerson, Karetsas and Nmecha (74′). Less than 120 seconds later, Inacio was shown a red card for a hard tackle on Grönbaek.
BVB battled their way back into the game, kept HSV away from their own goal, and narrowly missed putting the game beyond doubt through Veerman (90′).
Bundesliga, Matchday 1
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BVB: Kobel – Gadou, Anton, Svensson – Ryerson (74′ Mane), Nmecha (74′ Veerman), Bellingham, Beier (84′ Prates) – Karetsas (74′ Inacio), Guirassy, Konstantelias (54′ Sabitzer)Bench: Meyer, Silva, Albert, Reggiani
HSV: Heuer Fernandes – Capaldo, Bornauw, Torunarigha (82′ Nadir) – Jatta (82′ Poulsen), Lokonga, Remberg, Lemke (89′ Philippe) – Adeline (67′ Stange), Grönbaek – Daka (67′ Moffi)Bench: Tangvik, Elfadli, Nandja, Amoako
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.
