The Set: Hamburg 4 – 1 Borussia Dortmund

Hamburg shook off their early season funk and tore apart Dortmund at the Nordbank Arena. It was the 4th straight victory for the Dinosaurs at home against BVB. A series of early goals seemed to settle the match by the 12th minute. Guy Demel pushed the first over the line after a massive keeper error in the 4th. Ze Roberto found a gap, a post and a rebound for the 2nd in the 10th and Guerrero finished, after a blistering run by Elia in the 12th. Dortmund who scored an equalizer after the first goal, when Hamburg were guilty of a lack of concentration never seemed up to the fight after Elia’s run and would conceed a 4th late in the game.

For Dortmund’s Jurgen Klopp, he at least escaped Hamburg without a fine this year. And that’s about the only positive thing that can be said for his team’s performance.

7 Notes About the Match

1. I think Hamburg were a little guilty of what English clubs do in the UEFA Cup/Europa League. They didn’t take the second leg of their tie with Randers seriously, having a 4-0 road victory in hand. They then let themselves get complacent, which happens when teams don’t take a game seriously. They then went out and lost at home to Randers, barely scraped by Fortuna Dusseldorf and put in a pedestrian performance against Freiburg to start the season. Aston Villa last year and Tottenham two years ago never seemed to recover. This week in their first home game of the season, they seemed to get over their slump and thus the change in Fortuna.
2. This must be the best-rounded midfield Hamburg has had in a while. With Eljera Elia being an excellent left wing, Piotr Trochowski back in a more natural RW position, Ze Roberto as the runner and Jarolim as the holder, this midfield is perfectly balanced. It seems even better than when van der Vaart was there with De Jong behind him, because they didn’t have such good wingers at the time. Jarolim and Ze Roberto overwhelmed the Dortmund midfield.
3. Part of this was Sahin. Unlike last week, he seemed absent as Kehl’s replacement. Had the captain been out there, I don’t think Hamburg would have had such dominance in attack. Sahin didn’t show up until the 29’ minute and that was for a shot on goal.
4. Roman Weidenfeller’s error on the first goal was ridiculous by the standards of ridiculous keeper gaffs. He came out for a cross and pulled away from it. It took more effort to stop himself punching the ball to safety than to carry through with his initial moment. He’s never came off to me as shaky on crosses, like Neuer, but maybe it’s time to reevaluate.
5. Marcus Berg (who has also scored today) had good movement and looks to be another great addition to the Dinosaurs. On the final goal, it was his pressure on Santana that forced and errant clearance, which Ze Roberto one-timed for an effort on goal. Weidenfeller got to the ball but parried it in front of goal, where Berg was ready to pounce, splitting Schmelzer and Santana.
6. This is the second week in a row that a tactical decision by Horst Hrubesch at the U21’s in Sweden seems to have made an impact on a Bundesliga coach (last week I mentioned Hummels). Jerome Boateng, who had played mostly as a fullback, was given a job in the center for the winning German team. Labbadia is now playing Boateng, who had a solid game, at center-half too, despite spending money on Rozenthal during the summer.
7. I’ll admit that I allowed Ze Roberto’s age to cloud my judgment. I dismissed his move to Hamburg, rating is as interesting rather than significant. I couldn’t have been more wrong as he is just ageless. And I think Bayern Munich will indeed regret not granting him a two-year extension. He was wonderful against Dortmund, with his goal coming out of sheer determination. He also set up Berg’s and should have aided Elia in the 38’ on another.