A touch of the good old days wafted through Hamburg’s Volkspark on Sunday. 25,000 spectators gathered in the stands, the second division teams that had been in the top two positions before the match day met on the pitch, and even the sun came out again in the north of the republic after a month-long absence.
Anyone who wanted to get a little distraction from world events by watching football this weekend was offered at least one interesting entertainment program at the 110th northern derby between Hamburger SV and Werder Bremen. This duel was something like part II of a novelty, because after HSV’s 1-0 first leg win in Bremen, the two former champions and European Cup winners played each other for the second time in the lower house – and at least the guest team is came an important step closer to returning to first class that afternoon: Bremen won 3:2 and have pushed themselves back to the top of the table in the second division with this success.
Referee Daniel Siebert whistled for two penalties – the Bremen team converted casually
Even the initial phase of the game was as dynamic and controversial as it had been in better sporting times. Werder stressed the home team right from the start with a pressing line that had been moved far up, and HSV stressed themselves out because they stoically stuck to their play structure based on short passes.
These basic ingredients resulted in a mixture in the first half that made the visiting team look like the superior and more mature group, but referee Daniel Siebert contributed the special spice note for Bremen’s lead: After a shot by Werder defender Ömer Toprak, the ball grazed the hand of HSV midfielder Jonas Meffert, which before the most recent handball rule reforms would not have constituted a criminal offense, but was then punished by Siebert with a penalty whistle after consultation with the Cologne video cellar.
Striker Marvin Ducksch converted this in the 10th minute of the game with his usual nonchalance to Bremen 1:0. Siebert drew additional displeasure from the audience in Hamburg’s Volkspark because he denied a goal by the home team: HSV striker Robert Glatzel had pushed a Werder player in the direction of goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka during the development, which was a rather tender intervention in the action , but justifiable in the referee’s final assessment.
Werder and HSV are among the most stylistically demanding teams in the lower house, they usually handle the ball in a high-quality manner and live up to an old Hanseatic merchant’s saying: “Dare un winn”, it says, which translates to “dare and win”. – and the second half in particular left no doubt that the players of the two clubs had fully internalized this lesson. Almost as soon as the whistle started again, HSV equalized with a Meffert goal (46′), but that was just the start of a cascade that saw the game race from one high point to the next.
HSV’s race to catch up was unsuccessful
The next stage: referee Siebert, the handball rule and the Cologne video cellar. It was a similar scene to the first penalty whistle, except this time the HSV attacker Bakery Jatta put his hand in front of his face to protect himself when a shot rushed towards the Hamburg goal. Werder got penalties again, which was only logical given the decision in the first half. However, Bremen had agreed on a shift change for the execution, because this time it was striker Niclas Füllkrug who deserved a coolness award for the well-placed shot into the corner (51st).
The North Derby, meanwhile, was now entering its feverish phase. HSV started a brave race to catch up, which was abruptly interrupted by a Ducksch goal worth seeing to make it 3-1 for Werder (76th), but with the connection goal by striker Glatzel still reached a promising intermediate goal (81st). However, the equalizer did not succeed, which is why the Hamburg team suffered their first home defeat of the season. For Bremen, on the other hand, this “wild, competitive northern derby” (Werder coach Ole Werner) could be worth more than just three points in the final count.