No pace, no points, no more hope: Hamburger SV has suffered another defeat against fearful opponents Holstein Kiel and can almost tick off promotion to the Bundesliga again. After an overall disappointing performance, coach Steffen Baumgart’s team lost 0-1 (0-0) against the league leaders and is now six points behind Fortuna Düsseldorf in the relegation zone and also has a significantly worse goal difference – with four games left.
Tom Rothe (59th) scored for the once again strong Kiel team and took the HSV fans out of their dreams in, of all things, the club’s 100th second division home game. The reeling traditional club showed far too little in the majority after the yellow-red card for Lewis Holtby (73rd, repeated foul play). Düsseldorf won 1-0 against SpVgg Greuther Fürth in the afternoon.
“The defeat hurts. It was an intense game. Unfortunately, in the end we lose,” said HSV captain Sebastian Schonlau on Sky.
Against no other club did HSV remain winless as often in the 2nd league and conceded as many goals as against Schleswig-Holstein. And so the Kiel fairy tale continues: After the sixth win in a row without conceding a goal, the storks are flying towards the first Bundesliga promotion in the club’s history. HSV, on the other hand, is likely to fail in its mission in the sixth attempt and could become a “second division dinosaur” next season.
“We need an outstanding performance and a good result,” Baumgart said before the game, but initially Kiel was the better team in front of 57,000 spectators – including Hamburg’s First Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) and Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther (SPD). . The home side, with center forward Robert Glatzel returning to the starting line-up, struggled to create any really good chances. The absence of the ailing midfield driver Laszlo Benes had a negative impact.
Kiel played from a well-organized defense, had a few good opportunities and called for a hand penalty shortly before half-time, but referee Sascha Stegemann did not point to the spot, even though he had looked at the images on the TV on the sideline again.
HSV then came out of the locker room with a lot of force, but it was precisely in this urgent phase that Kiel struck. After a corner, former Hamburg player Holtby Rothe served, who finished wonderfully. HSV keeper Matheo Raab protested wildly that he had been hindered at the corner – but Stegemann decided on the goal.
With one more man on the pitch, HSV tried to increase the pressure again, but promotion is now likely to become a “mission impossible”.