And again, the announced top game did not really hold what it promised.

The first appearance of HSV and 1. FC Köln in the second German football league was also the match first against second, and the fans of both teams expected some interesting and intense fighting on the pitch. Both teams had met 94 times before in the highest German league and now had to face each other for the first time in the 2nd Bundesliga.

The spectators in the not completely sold out Hamburger Volksparkstadion were ready. The light updraft of the last weeks should finally develop into a real storm, so at least the hopes of the supporters of the HSV.

Köln, on the other hand, finally wanted to stop it's series of games without victory. The big goal is going back up to Bundesliga right away and top scorer Terodde wanted to finally add a few more goals to his previous 13 goals too.

But even if the hosts from Hamburg most of the time had quite some advantage and were the more active team on the field, they were not able to turn this into a goal. Youngster Arp only hit the outer post in the first half and there also was a clear handball in the penalty area but the referee didn't find his whistle so it was still some not really exiting and satisfying 0:0 at half time break.

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In the second half, however, it was almost FC Köln who took the lead. But Narey cleared in the last second on the line, for his already beaten goalkeeper Pollersbeck. Lucky HSV!

Even if the game became a little more open now and we could finally see a few more chances, the crowd had already come to terms with a goalless draw. But then came the 86 minute in which Hamburg striker Lasogga just needed to be at the right position when Köln's goalkeeper Horn could not hold on a shot from the Brazilian Douglas Santos.

That was it, finally, the 1-0 and the Volksparkstadion danced and cheered. The lead was then secured until the closing whistle and finally HSV was at the top of the table where they like to see themselves best.

Even though Hamburg has now won the last 3 compulsory games with a clean sheet and the new coach Wolf made a good start, there is still a lot of work to do in North Germany. The next games will all not be no-brainers and we have already seen how susceptible HSV is against supposedly weaker teams this season. Especially the complacency and arrogance could continue to harm the club and lead to further setbacks.

Of course, the team from Köln cannot be written off yet and will do everything in their power to regain the lead in the standings again, and also the other pursuers like the city rival St. Pauli or Union Berlin are very close on their heels. Even if the HSV is celebrating again, it still remains exciting.


Since nobody had predicted the result of 1:0 for HSV, there is unfortunately no winner on this matchday. The jackpot remains and will be used for another lottery.

Stay tuned my friends!