Babbel enjoys stylish first home win

Babbel made two changes to the team that began the club's last game away at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Isaac Vorsah did not recover in time from an adductor problem, so his place in central defence was taken by Jannik Vestergaard. And in midfield, Sebastian Rudy returned after suspension, with USA international Daniel Williams dropping to the bench.

HSV start well…

Hoffenheim went into the game on the back of that 2-1 success in Kaiserslautern, but it was their opponents that actually started the game off brighter, when Tom Starke had to produce a decent save from Ivo Ilicevic's long-ranger in just the second minute. It was a warning that the home side heeded. Gradually TSG began to exert some control in midfield and they soon tested the HSV goal. Boris Vukcevic was freed on the right and his early cross was met by Sven Schipplock, but Jaroslav Drobny did well to gather (13').

..but TSG have the edge

Slowly but surely, 1899 began to exude more confidence in their attacking play, and they made some concerted pressure count after 17 minutes. After a series of corners, the ball landed at the feet of Vestergaard and he slammed a shot home from 14 yards, aided by a slight deflection off Hamburg's Jeffrey Bruma. The goal seemed to liven up the entire ground, and a second followed for the home side soon afterwards. HSV defender Heiko Westermann clearly tripped Schipplock in the penalty box, and Sejad Salihovic made no mistake to convert his second spot-kick in as many games (25').

Double-salvo

Hoffenheim were now firmly in control of the game, able to soak up pressure and then hit Hamburg on the break. And just after the restart, they did it to great effect. Following a spell of decent possession for Hamburg, Salihovic released winger Fabian Johnson, and he kept his composure to leave two defenders stranded, before finishing superbly past Drobny for 3-0 (51'). And the result was all but settled just before the hour mark, as Schipplock capped off an excellent all-round performance by slotting home after collecting Vukcevic's pass (59').

Easy win

The heads of the HSV players dropped very quickly after conceding the third and fourth goals, and it was a case of damage limitation for Thorsten Fink's Hamburg side. Roberto Firmino had a couple of half-chances to add to the score, but in the end, Babbel's men cruised to a win that had been sewn up long before the final whistle.

Hamburg have been brought well and truly back down to earth as they attempt to survive relegation. But for Hoffenheim, the emphatic nature of the victory may yet give the fans hope that their team can make a late push for the Europa League. 1899 next face a tricky away clash at SC Freiburg on matchday 31.

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