FIRST TEAM
08/21/2010

Dreamstart to the season – Hoffenheim conduct 4-1 victory against Bremen

1899 Hoffenheim got off to a flying start in their 2010/11 Bundesliga campaign by securing an impressive 4-1 home victory over Werder Bremen. 30.150 supporters witnessed a great display by Ralf Rangnick's team, especially in the first half.

The fans of 1899 Hoffenheim had to wait exactly 107 days in order to see their team play in the Rhein-Neckar-Arena again. At 03:30 p.m. Hoffenheim entered their third Bundesliga season. "We wanted to show the type of Football which Hoffenheim made a trademark in the past," said coach Ralf Rangnick. This trademark embodies an aggressive style when challenging the ball and a quick switch from defence to offence. A renewed mentality has also settled in with Hoffenheim: "The only way we can manage on the pitch, is if we do it together," said new captain Andreas Beck.

Obasi, Gulde, Jaissle, Eduardo and Ibertsberger missing

True to their word, Hoffenheim started their season well, showing that they are willing to perform as a unit. The DFB Cup first round match against Rostock was the start and a similar performance against Bremen was wanted. A number of players were unavailable for coach Rangnick. Chinedu Obasi, Carlos Eduardo, Manuel Gulde, Matthias Jaissle and Andreas Ibertsberger were all out of action for the clash with Werder. This enabled Rangnick to follow the motto "Never change a winning team" and field the exact same line up as in the game against Rostock. On the other side, Werder coach Schaaf did not rest any of his players for the important return leg next week in the Champions League qualification against Sampdoria Genoa.

Four goals in one half

Both teams showed an impressive offensive spectacle in the first half. The visitors in the Rhein-Neckar-Arena did not have to wait long for the first goal. Hunt's cross from the right hand side hit the stretched out arm of Luiz Gustavo and referee Perl did not hesitate to award a penalty for Bremen in the third minute. Torsten Frings converted as he had already done last Wednesday in the first leg against Sampdoria. Ralf Rangnick's team did not appear stunned however, as they continued to play up the pitch looking for the equaliser. The hosts created numerous chances and Demba Ba struck a short range rebound to make it 1-1 after 20 minutes. Bremen also continued to play up the pitch and this created lots of room for Hoffenheim's offensive department to create more chances. Towards the end of the first half most of the match took place near Bremen's penalty area. After 37 minutes Luiz Gustavo played a wonderful pass into the path of Peniel Mlapa who finished with ease to put Hoffenheim in the lead. Just four minutes later, Gustavo again managed to play a perfect pass and this time Ibisevic left Wiese chanceless. Finally, Sejad Salihovic converted a wonderful free kick from roughly 20 meters - again leaving Wiese without a chance to block the ball.

Second half is played out with few highlights

Both teams appeared tired in the second half which resulted in fairly uneventful second 45 minutes. Hoffenheim were happy with the result and focussed on keeping a solid defence and saving energy for upcoming tasks. Pizarro had the best chance in the second half, but his volley from seven meters was no problem for Tom Starke. In the end it was a well deserved 4-1 victory for Hoffenheim thanks to a near perfect first half. The atmosphere in the stadium was great as Hoffenheim managed a dream start to their Bundesliga campaign.

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