Hamburg and Frankfurt in play out goalless draw
Hamburg - Hamburger SV and Eintracht Frankfurt played out an entertaining goalless draw at the Volksparkstadion on Saturday afternoon.
MAN OF THE MATCH
HAMBURGER SV 0-0 EINTRACHT FRANKFURT
The visitors, who went into the game having scored ten goals in their last two league encounters, almost took the lead after just four minutes, but Marco Russ’ goal-bound header was cleared off the line by Nicolai Müller. HSV recovered quickly though and went close to an opener themselves when Johan Djourou rattled the crossbar from inside the area. The game eventually settled down after a frantic opening, with neither side able to fashion a breakthrough before the interval.
The second half began in similar fashion to the first with Ivo Ilicevic and Stefan Reinartz both missing half-chances, before Haris Seferovic’s header was expertly tipped over the crossbar by Jaroslav Drobny. The Czech keeper was called into action moments later, diving low to his right to tip Alexander Meier’s shot around the post. Michael Gregoritsch went close with a long-range effort with 15 minutes remaining, but both sides were forced to settle for a point.
He didn’t have much to do in the first half, but Drobny pulled off two outstanding stops to deny Seferovic and Meier after the interval, earning his side a share of the spoils and becoming the first keeper to stop the Eagles from scoring this season.
Talking point
Although they were unable to find a way past Drobly at the Volksparkstadion, the goalless draw extends Frankfurt’s unbeaten league run to four matches since their opening-day defeat to VfL Wolfsburg. Armin Veh has made the Eagles a difficult side to beat.
Match stats
- Drobny did not have to make a single save before half-time, but was forced into action three times after the interval
- Frankfurt committed twice as many fouls as Hamburg (16 compared to eight)
- Four yellow cards were shown during the game, all of which went to the visitors.
Line-ups
Hamburg:
Drobny - Diekmeier, Spahic, Djourou, Ostrzolek - Kacar - Hunt, Holtby - N. Müller (Gregoritsch 68’), Ilicevic (Olic 76’) - Lasogga (Schipplock 87’)
Frankfurt:
Hradecky - Ignjovski, Russ, Abraham, Oczipka - Reinartz - Hasebe (Medojevic 90’), Stendera (Flum 89’) - Meier - Seferovic, Castaignos (Aigner 83’)
