Dortmund down Hamburg to clinch third place
Mönchengladbach - Borussia Dortmund bounced back from their narrow semi-final defeat to Borussia Mönchengladbach to claim third place in the 2013 Telekom Cup courtesy of a 1-0 win over Hamburger SV.
Dortmund dominant
The Red Shorts weren’t without their chances, but Jonas Hofmann ultimately scored the only goal of the game as BVB produced a solid performance built around a well-organised backline and free-flowing attacking movement.
Hamburg head coach Thorsten Fink opted to hand up-and-coming Turkish midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu a start and his creativity made an immediate impact on the encounter as the 19-year-old released Per Skjelbred in behind only to see the Dane drag his effort wide of the target. HSV were combining well in midfield, but it was Dortmund who were dictating the pace of proceedings, regularly breaking forward at pace with Marco Reus providing a constant threat as he saw two efforts blocked by the opponent’s backline.
However, in the 24th minute the German international turned provider, finding Hofmann, who broke the offside trap before cutting inside Slobodan Rajkovic and curling an effort into the far corner to hand Dortmund a half-time lead. Summer signing Sokratis entered the fray during the break as the Yellow-Blacks picked up where they left off as Ilkay Gündogan and Julian Schieber both went close to extending the lead.
Hamburg hampered
BVB’s fluid football on the counter attack regularly caught Hamburg flat-footed with Sven Bender squandering the best chance produced by a fast break. In the end though the Red Shorts failed to find a way to truly test Mitchell Langerak in goal, despite Fink introducing several fresh faces off the bench, allowing Borussia to clinch a mini-victory in the mini-final of the Telekom Cup.
