Excellent Volland gives TSG deserved victory

TSG manager Marco Kurz made five changes to his side, handing debuts to Heurelho Gomes, David Abraham and Igor de Camargo. Fabian Johnson and Roberto Firmino also returned to the starting eleven.

Last week's defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt was a game Hoffenheim could have taken something from and the opportunity to rectify that in front of their own supporters against Freiburg was one they wanted to take. It was however, the away side that flew out of the blocks and took the lead as early as the fourth minute. A ball down the left flank gave Max Kruse some space on the edge of the area and he half-volleyed superbly at goal. Gomes was up to the task though, matching his effort with a good parry. Unfortunately for him, the ball wasn't cleared quickly enough and Kruse nipped in to dink it over Gomes to give Freiburg the lead. Minutes later, they nearly added a second when Caligiuri flashed an effort across the goal line.

However, the home fans saw their side respond perfectly as they took advantage of their first attacking opportunity. Polanski fed a great ball through to Firmino on the right wing and the Brazilian cut back before firing an effort goalwards. His shot hit the inside of the post but Volland was on hand to put the rebound in to level up the scores after a frantic opening ten minutes. Both sides then settled into their respective strides and the game evened itself out with tussles in midfield and plenty of attacking desire. Kurz's men roamed forward again and when Firmino put Sorg under pressure on the right-hand side of the area, it gave Weis the opportunity to cut the ball back to the on-rushing Kevin Volland. The in-form attacking midfielder stroked the ball into the roof of the net to give Hoffenheim the lead with his fourth goal of the season.

Freiburg were frustrated and started to niggle away at the home side but they stood firm, keen to break their opponent's run of six consecutive away games without defeat. Hoffenheim grew in confidence and when Volland burst through from midfield, Vegar Hedenstad was forced into pulling him back which saw him fortunately escape with only a booking.

The second half started with the home side carrying on their good form but Freiburg continued to provide a threat on the counterattack and Gomes had to be aware on more than one occasion. Hoffenheim nearly extended their lead but de Camargo could only pull his effort wide after a bit of a scramble in the box. Freiburg had more and more possession as the second half wore on but just couldn't find a way through the stubborn Hoffenheim defence. With just over ten minutes to go, Hoffenheim escaped a goalmouth scramble without conceding as the visitors threw everything at the home side.

Right at the death, substitute Patrick Ochs had the chance to wrap up the points but could only strike his effort at Baumann. Nevertheless, it proved irrelevant as Hoffenheim deservedly held on for an important and a deserved victory. Kurz's men had been efficient in attack and stubborn in defence, with Volland and Gomes impressing in particular. This type of performance is something to build on for TSG ahead of their trip to Hannover 96 next Saturday, February 9th at 15.30 CET.

Jonathan Harding

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim: Gomes – Beck, Delpierre, Abraham, Johnson – Weis (75' Williams), Polanski – Firmino (83' Ochs), Volland, Usami – de Camargo (70' Derdiyok)

SC Freiburg: Baumann – Hedenstad, Krmas, Diagne, Sorg – Schmid (76' Makiadi), Schuster, Flum, Caligiuri – Kruse, Rosenthal (84' Jendrisek)

Goals: 0-1 M. Kruse (4'), 1-1 Volland (10'), 2-1 Volland (26'), Yellow cards: Beck, Polanski, Firmino – Hedenstad, Attendance: 24,000, Referee: Robert Hartmann

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