Decisive victory against Elversberg

It was a reunion with familiar faces. Vincent Wagner - previously the Under-23s coach at TSG Hoffenheim - is now the new SV Elversberg coach, while Bambasé Conté is on loan to the second league team this season. 

But old friendships were put to one side during the 120 minutes of game time. A great solo play by Conté down the left of the pitch set up Jason Ceka to score the first goal for Elversberg (3). TSG tried to respond immediately, but Tim Lemperle's attempt in the eighth minute was stopped by Tim Boss. It was only in the second quarter - the game was played over four sets of 30 minutes - that TSG looked dangerous again. Muhammed Damar scored in the 37th minute after a lovely attack down the left of the pitch, making the score 1-1. The 21-year-old then went on to set up Hoffenheim to go into the lead shortly before half time, finding Tim Lemperle on the counter-attack, who moved from the left into the middle of the pitch and put the ball in the far corner of the net (57). 

TSG had a completely different line-up for the second half. In the 72nd minute, former Hoffenheim player Frederik Schmahl equalised for SV Elversberg following a set piece. But before the end of the third quarter, TSG struck back: Max Moerstedt took the team back into the lead with an exquisite shot from a distance (87). And in the final quarter, TSG doubled down. First Bazoumana Touré scored from a short distance, assisted by Moerstedt (97), before Precious Benjamin rounded off the game. The Under-23s attacker scored in the 117th minute following a brilliant counter-attack, making the final score 5-2. 

Head coach Christian Ilzer's team will be playing their next test match on Wednesday. TSG will be playing FC Homburg in Zuzenhausen at 18:00 CEST. 

Line-up first half: Baumann – Đurić, Arthur Chaves, Hranáč, Bernardo – Avdullahu, Becker – Damar, Bülter – Lemperle, Orban

Line-up second half: Philipp – Drexler, Akpoguma, Frees, Behrens – Tohumcu, Hyryläinen – Touré (Erlein, 107), Kramarić (Mokwa, 91) – Asllani, Moerstedt (Benjamin, 91)

Goals: 0-1 Ceka (3), 1-1 Damar (37), 2-1 Lemperle (57), 2-2 Schmahl (72), 3-2 Moerstedt (87), 4-2 Touré (97), 5-2 Benjamin (117)

Match facts and statistics »