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Dominant 1899 Hoffenheim win 3:0 against Bochum
Match Report
Against VfL Bochum, Hoffenheim looked dominant over 90 minutes. Early on, Ralf Rangnick's side launched numerous attacks against the packed defence of the visitors without much success until the 15th minute, where a Bochum gaffe in their own penalty area allowed Demba Ba to comfortably score from 5 metres out.
Seizing the initiative, Hoffenheim did not allow Bochum any real offensive chances for the first half hour. Numerous opportunities presented themselves for the Kraichgauer, particularly via long distance shots, but the hosts were unable to add to their lead before halftime. Closing out the half, Bochum, against the run of play, came within millimetres of an equalizer when a long blast from Marc Pfertzel struck the crossbar.
In the second half Hoffenheim again outplayed their opponents; Bochum presented a reasonable defence, but precious little in terms of offensive ideas. The hosts kept the game firmly in their opponent's half and towards the hour mark, Chinedu Obasi surged through four Bochum defenders and put the ball in the left corner of Philipp Heerwagen's goal, doubling 1899's lead.
Hoffenheim kept a firm grip on the proceedings and maintained the initiative, largely thanks to a fine midfield display from Carlos Eduardo. Obasi came close again in the 77th minute but was denied by Heerwagen. Bochum looked prone to set pieces throughout the match, and in the 79th minute Sejad Salihovic's freekick found wide-open Marvin Compper's foot, providing the final 3:0 scoreline and capping off a very good Hoffenheim performance.
Match Quotations
Timo Hildebrand
"We played very well and each aspect of our game was convincing. It made me really happy to hear the "Timo for Germany" chants, but I will have to impress with my performances. Today I really didn't have much to do."
Marvin Compper
"It was really great to score today, even when it wasn't a really difficult goal to take. When one takes a look at the match events and sees the chances, it's quite clear that we deserved to win. We could have really wrapped this one up by halftime. Today we displayed our best and most consistent performance of the season and we have to keep this going. No one is given a call-up to the national team just because of words, but if Timo manages to win an invitation it would make me very happy."
Mergim Mavraj
"We envisaged something completely different for the match today. I'm happy that I at least got onto the pitch - it was surprising to be thrown into the water like this and given my debut. I would have liked to have taken home one or three points today."
Paul Freyer
"It's difficult to find words to describe our performance today. Undoubtedly we deserved to lose. Right now we are not in the proper mindset to win away from home."
Josip Simunic
"We really got into this game and it was an excellent team effort. If we play the way we played today then I think that we can achieve a good position in the final table this year."
Ralf Rangnick
"I see it the same way. It was a really good game from us. Over 90 minutes we executed what we resolved to do prior to the match. This is another step in the right direction. What really makes me happy is that we managed to keep a clean sheet again. We changed our bench so that we could get closer to the fans."
Marcel Koller
"The victory was absolutely deserved. Hoffenheim were clearly the better team. We didn't have any goal chances and we were way too generous. We lost too much in the way of possession. In each of the goals we conceded we gave them too much space. When playing such a technically able team like Hoffenheim you can't afford to do this."
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