Hamburg and Freiburg victorious, Düsseldorf defeated

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Munich - Hamburger SV continued their resurgence with victory in Fürth, Freiburg racked up three points and Düsseldorf suffered their first defeat of the campaign on another eventful Saturday in Germany's top flight.

Greuther Fürth 0-1 Hamburger SV


Greuther Fürth fell to their fourth home defeat as Hamburg's recent revival continued at the Trolli Arena. Heung-Min Son scored the only goal of the game in the 17th minute to make it ten points in four games for the northern German side.

Tenacious tackling


The last thing Fürth would have wanted was to concede an early goal, but their fears were realised in the 17th minute as Heung-Min Son picked up possession in midfield and exploited the space in front of him before unleashing a low shot into the far corner.

The game lost its way a little in terms of technique, but gained in tenacity as both sides fought for every loose ball. The consequence was a spate of yellow cards and plenty of interruptions which prevented either side from establishing a rhythm. This seemed to suit the hosts more as they were happy to defend in numbers and wait for a chance on the break which, despite Fürth's best efforts, did not present itself.

Tactical battle


The aggression carried over into the second half as Hamburg gradually began retreating rather than seeking a second goal. Fürth, whose game has been based on counterattacking football since they arrived in the Bundesliga, almost appeared unsure how to react. Instead it was HSV who created the better chances with Artjoms Rudnevs denied by Max Grün and Son shooting wide as Fürth failed to find an answer before the final whistle.

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SC Freiburg 3-0 1. FC Nuremberg


SC Freiburg recovered from back-to-back 2-1 defeats to SV Werder Bremen and Eintracht Frankfurt by putting three past floundering 1. FC Nuremberg.

Post, then in


Hiroshi Kiyotake sent a shot wide in the second minute for the visitors but Freiburg soon settled themselves as they began to take the bull by the horns, forcing their guests onto the back foot.

Erik Jendrisek nearly reaped the rewards after 21 minutes, only to see his header deflected onto the post. Quarter of an hour later and the hosts took a deserved lead through Makiadi. Jonathan Schmid's cross was met at the far post by Jendrisek, who, having drawn the entire Nuremberg defence towards him, headed the ball square to Makiadi to nod it into the empty goal from a yard out.

Wrapped up late


Nuremberg had to change something, and they did with Alexander Esswein replacing Robert Mak at the start of the second half. The biggest alteration was their attitude, though. Their newfound belief almost got them back into the match when Sebastian Polter lobbed Oliver Baumann, who was grateful that Mensur Mujdza was covering to head the ball over the crossbar.

Freiburg had thrown away a one-goal lead in each of their last two games, but not this time. Timothy Chandler brought down Daniel Caligiuri inside the penalty area in stoppage time and the fouled player stepped up to place the spot-kick into the top right-hand corner and ensure this weekend bucked the trend. And just to wrap things up, Marco Terrazzino sent in a volley off the underside of the crossbar to seal a comprehensive home win.

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1. FSV Mainz 05 1-0 Fortuna Düsseldorf


Despite recent positive results, both Mainz and Düsseldorf failed to get a grip on proceedings in their first ever Bundesliga meeting which meant that chances remained at a premium in Pfalz.

Mainz, victors in two of their last three matches, went closest in the opening exchanges against a deep-lying Düsseldorf side, but Nicolai Müller could only head wide from Julian Baumgartlinger's cross. The visitors looked sharper when in possession, meanwhile, and duly threatened as Dani Schahin and Ken Ilsö each came close to scoring with long-range efforts.

Noveski unmarked


Mainz stepped it up a gear after half an hour, with Niko Bungert heading Andreas Ivanschitz's free-kick just past the near post before Zdenek Pospech blazed over the crossbar in the lead up to the interval.

The home side remained in the driving seat in a largely uneventful second period, yet never benefitted from their dominance owing to a lack of ideas in the final third. Fortuna's goalkeeper thrice proved his quality with saves to deny Ivanschitz and Müller. However, when Oliver Fink picked up a second bookable offence to reduce the visitors to ten men, the pressure finally took its toll when the unmarked Nikolce Noveski met Ivanschitz's corner with a thumping header to inflict Düsseldorf with a defeat of the season.

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