Calhanoglu spot-on as HSV draw with Frankfurt
Hamburg - A Hakan Calhanoglu penalty rescued a point for Hamburger SV against Eintracht Frankfurt in a tense encounter at the Imtech Arena.
Calhanoglu penalty
Mirko Slomka’s injury-hit side started brightly and Eagles’ keeper Kevin Trapp had to be on his toes early on to deny Ivo Ilicevic, who had let fly from the edge of the penalty area. Hamburg continued to put the visitors under pressure, but it was Frankfurt who took the lead after 27 minutes when Alexander Madlung, who had stayed up following a corner, hit a venomous volley past Rene Adler for the defender’s first of the campaign.
Calhanoglu almost equalised with one of his trademark free-kicks on the hour-mark, but his cross-shot flew just wide of the post, with the onrushing HSV attack unable to get a touch. The Turkish youngster was presented with a great opportunity to level the scores ten minutes later, however, when Frankfurt defender Carlos Zambrano brought down Jacques Zoua inside the box. Calhanoglu made no mistake from the resulting penalty, firing high into the roof of the net for his second goal in three matches.
Trapp did well to save a dipping Calhanoglu effort moments after the 20-year-old’s equaliser, but scoring opportunities proved hard to come by in the final quarter of an hour and both teams were ultimately forced to settle for a share of the spoils. The point keeps Hamburg in 16th place in the Bundesliga, while Armin Veh’s team remain in twelfth.
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