Nürnberg vs. Hoffenheim

In the first half, both sides lacked a special spark going forward; TSG enjoyed the lion's share of the possession of the ball, but as so often this season for them, did very little with it in terms of offensive play. Likewise, 1. FC Nürnberg offered very little going forward. The real moments of inpiration tended to come from Hoffenheim's Brazilian winger Carlos Eduardo, who tried to give his side some life- his cutback on 28 minutes though was shanked horribly wide by Salihovic.

At the start of the second half, Eduardo had his long range strike beaten away by Schäfer. Going forward, the second half was in a similar vain to the first for the home side. However, TSG rode their luck on 68 minutes, and Nürnberg were unfortunate; Choupo-Moting testing Hildebrand, but after Hoffenheim keeper was able to paw away the ball for a corner, keeping the scores level

There was to be no goals as it turned out; the best chance of the remainder of the game was on 85 minutes, with Marcel Risse's drive fizzing just over for Nürnberg.

It's a result that helps neither side, and both clubs will need to concentrate their efforts on posing more of an offensive threat. TSG are coasting towards the end of the season, ten points clear of the relegation zone, but in no position to challenge for the European spots- however this defensive display was certainly encouraging, and you can always rely on Hoffenheim to give fully committed displays, regardless of just playing for pride or not.

Quotes

Sejad Salihovic
We played well today, but couldn't make the most of our good chances. In some cases we just lack that bit of luck that you need.

Vedad Ibisevic
It's so annoying, that we couldn't take the chance. As a striker you always want to score. But it was encouraging that we created so many chances and kept a clean sheet.

Dieter Hecking
I think that it was a fair result, because the game was very evenly balanced. We earned ourselves an important point. We will go again next week. The table doesn't bother me. Today is the 27th game, in the last few games we havn't really done much.

Marvin Compper
At the back we were very solid and didn't let much past. Up front though we were again found lacking though unfortunately. But above all we can look to build on this defensive performance.

Ralf Rangnick
We had two big chances to score, and usually we would convert one. At the back we improved from the Bremen game, and were very solid, but didn't do enough ourselves.

Andreas Ottl
We are starting to get better at the back, and we were very organised in that respect today. If we keep working hard, I'm convinced that we can climb the table.

 

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