|
Roma
|
2
|
Simon
(2)
|
|
Dundee
United
|
1
|
Adrian
|
All of the games on the second day of the league were
close encounters and it took until the second half
for this match to come to life. Bernardo wasted the
only real chances of the first half, blazing over
with firstly his left foot and then his right. Gergely
and Simon combined well down the left with a couple
of one-twos and the cross was headed back by Till
for Hugo but his first-time effort was blocked well
by Sam M.
It
took a mistake to open up the game two minutes into
the second half, as Maik played Paul into trouble
and he could only clear as far as Simon. His shot
was parried well by Maik, but Till reacted first to
the loose ball and intelligently squared the ball
with his left foot for the onrushing Simon to tap
home. Simon then came alive and played in Sam V on
the left. Although Maik saved well, he could do nothing
to stop the resultant corner. Till's first ball was
cleared but his second was met by Simon's forehead,
glancing the ball into the far corner for a fantastic
goal. United pushed hard and Adrian almost benifited
from his brother's mistake, but Thorben came out well
to clear. With the last kick Adrian did restore some
pride for his team, turning well from Bernardo's pass
and finishing into the roof of the net, but it was
too little too late as Roma secured the points.
|
|
Hamburg
|
2
|
Lars,
Ben
|
|
Roma
|
2
|
Simon, Till
|
Again a slow start to the game, but again it was
the Till-Simon combination which undid the opposition's
defence. The former sending a corner into the box
for the latter to head home via Glenn's fingertips.
Ivan battled hard at the other end, but his deflected
shot was held by Thorben. Hugo's effort was also
saved this time by Glenn, but just before half-time
Till took the ball inside onto his left foot and
curled a low shot which skimmed off the surface
and in off the post.
An
immediate response was needed and within 30 seconds
of the restart Lars had found one. Following in
Soma's long-range effort he smashed the ball into
the roof of the net... game on! Ralph blocked Alex
K's drive to keep the gap to just one and Kostya
could only find the left upright with a venomous
shot. Simon would surely have sealed it for Roma,
but Jelle got back with a fine sliding tackle and
with only a minute left the equaliser arrived. Lars
played a lovely through ball to Soma who composed
himself and while everyone was expecting the shot,
he cut the ball back for the onrushing Ben who made
no mistake, placing the ball in the near corner.
With the last act Glenn had to save from Hugo but
a draw was a fair result and some redemption for
Hamburg after their opening-day hammering by the
same opposition.
|
|
Dundee
United
|
3
|
Alex
Hurley (2), Mark
|
|
Hamburg
|
2
|
Christian
(og), Alex Hingl
|
Refreshed after their earlier defeat to Roma, the
Tangerines started well with Alex Hurley hitting
the post early on with a low left-foot strike. Ben
kept Maik awake at the other end Before Sam V shot
wide and Bernardo flicked Christian's corner past
the post. Davide's great burst down the right then
set Christian up, but his shot flew agonisingly
past the left post. Perhaps annoyed by his wayward
finish it was Christian's intervention, sliding
in on Ben, which put the ball past his own keeper
and into the net for a bizarre opener!!! Luckily
Dundee replied quickly through Alex H. Gathering
a loose ball the midfielder looked up, took aim
and fired a bullet of a shot, curling it into the
top corner from fully 25 metres.
1-1
at the break and it was again Alex who swung the
game in Dundee's favour. Sam V played a lovely one-two
with Adrian before sending in a beautiful cross
over the Blues' defence. Arriving late in the box,
Alex let the ball bounce once before dispatching
it past Glenn. A third arrived, this time from the
other central midfielder as Adrian again set up
the cross which was supplied by Christian and although
the ball was slightly behind him, Mark adjusted
his body and volleyed in to give his side a 2-goal
cushion. It was almost another but for a flying
save by Glenn to deny Alex his hat-trick. Hamburg's
own Alex H then gave his team some hope, pouncing
on some slack defending and firing into the corner
with his trusted left foot. And the Blues nearly
snatched the most unlikely draw as Lars burst through
on goal with only seconds remaining. Davide somehow
got back to put pressure on the shooter, but Lars
still got off a great shot which somehow crashed
against the crossbar and out. Ben was there for
the rebound but Sam M flung himself in the way of
the shot and eventually Maik was able to grasp the
ball and clear to the sound of the final whistle!!!
|