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After seven long years, to round out the opening weekend, Borussia Mönchengladbach hosted Hamburger SV
In a nice turn of events, the last Bundesliga game that Hamburg played was against Gladbach on that fateful day in 2018 when they were relegated from the top flight. Now they are back.
Hamburg started their return to the top flight the brightest of the two sides, causing several issues for Gladbach from the counter, but as the game went on, die Fohlen gained more and more control of the game. However, neither team were able to create any meaningful chances with Hars Tabakovic having the best chance of the first half.
The second half was (slightly) more eventful. Several times, Hamburg had to call upon Daniel Heuer Fernandes to keep them in the game, most notably making a strong save from Rocco Reitz. As full-time approached, Hamburg began to grow back into the game and scored what seemed to be a late winner, but it would be ruled out for offside. If William Mikelbrencis, who was offside, had not touched the header from Yussuf Poulsen, HSV would have won the game.
Hamburg will be the happiest with the result, after several had questioned their credentials for staying in the league; they showed that they have the necessary grit to play a more defensive style of football, compared to being one of the top teams in the 2.Bundesliga last season. This will give HSV a big confidence boost ahead of their derby against St.Pauli next Friday.
For Gladbach, they lacked any real creativity. Kevin Stöger tried to create chances through open play, but most of die Fohlen’s best chances came from corners. The integration of Shuto Machino and the arrival of Giovanni Reyna should hopefully change this, but if things continue as they are, it will be a long season for Gladbach.
Borussia Mönchengladbach:
Moritz Nicolas (5), Joe Scally (5), Nico Elvedi (5), Fabio Chiarodia (5), Lukas Ullrich (5), Rocco Reitz (6), Philipp Sander (5), Franck Honorat (5), Kevin Stöger (6), Robin Hack (5), Haris Tabakovic (5)
Others: Florian Neuhaus (5), Kevin Diks (5), Luca Netz (5), Jens Castrop (-), Shuto Machino (-)
Hamburger SV:
Daniel Heuer Fernandes (7), Warmed Omari (6), Daniel Elfadli (6), Jordan Torunarigha (5), Giorgi Gocholeishvili (6), Nicolas Capaldo (6), Nicolai Remberg (6), Miro Muheim (6), Emir Sahiti (5), Ransford Königsdörffer (5), Alexander Røssing (5)
Others: Rayan Phillipe (5), Jean-Luc Dompé (5), Yussuf Poulsen (5), William Mikelbrencis (-), Jonas Meffert (-)
GGFN Man of the Match: Daniel Heuer Fernandes (7)
Made several important saves to keep out Gladbach and keep Hamburg in the game. There have been doubts previously about Fernandes’ ability as a keeper, due to some high-profile mistakes in the past, plus the arrival of Daniel Peretz on loan from Bayern Munich. However, today Fernandes showed he can be a safe pair of hands.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
