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A Hamburger has never been tasty

10.04.2011, 23:18 Uhr von: Redaktion

After last weeks fireworks against Hannover at home, we drove far north since the "Hamburger" was on the menue this week. The day started out with sunny weather and a manifestation against the high ticket prices that seem to make their way around everywhere in Germany. Dortmund fans as well as Hamburg fans supported the campaign: "kein' Zwanni für'n Steher" and therefore the day had a peacful prelude to the actual game that would follow later.

Since our team showed great moral after the 0:1 deficit last week, Jürgen Klopp found no reason why to change last weeks formation. Hamburgs coach Oenning could rely on Van Nistelrooy again after he had to sit out a red card last week. Also Westermann got a chance to play from the beginning on. With perfect spring-or even almost summer-like weather the game started.

First half

The game started out rather eager but yet there was no final drive in either of the teams. Both of them showed great respect towards the other which led to the fact that chances were rather rare. Our fans could actually witness the same kind of football we had witnessed so many times before in this season. The players exhibited quite some effort and showed that they wanted the three points but somehow they were lacking the accuracy in their passes and crosses, also due to the fact that Hamburgs defense seemed to be wide awake from the beginning on. Again the game was taken out mostly in the center of the pitch which wasn't too bad but exciting chances were obviously missing in the first thirty minutes of the game. Instead, Sahin and Ben-Hatira both received the yellow card. Only a few minutes later, however, everyone was wide awake all the sudden. After a fantastic pass by Sahin onto Barrios, our striker strived towards the goal and actually scored but somehow the linesman saw something we all didn't see. An offside position from Barrios. After dozens of action replays after the game the reporters still stated that it was a wrong decision in favour for Hamburg. Much to our disagreement and disappointment. It would have been so important to get in the lead in the first half of the game already.

But it came differently. An old acquaintance from a few years ago suddenly fell down in the penalty area in the 39th minute of the game. Unfortunately you can blame this acquaintance called Petric for many things but not for this scene. Hummels came way to late and threw Petric off but hitting his leg, rather than the ball. The penalty kick that would follow for Hamburg was used by Van Nistelrooy who scored the 1:0 for Hamburg- Weidenfeller had sensed the right corner, but the kick was shot simply great, no chance for Roman. Tough luck when it should have been you celebrating and not the other ones. Dortmund seemed to be a bit confused for a short moment since Hamburg attacked right away again. Ben-Hatira tried himself with a shot from around 30 meters distance, but our Weidenfeller fisted the ball over the goal. In return it was us, or more precisely Götze who had the chance to score. It would have been so great to score the 1:1 before the break but Mario Götze failed from half a meters distance. Suddenly he was right in front of the goal, after he had danced his way through through Hamburgs defense, and tried to move the ball across the goalline but one of Hamburgs players saved the ball from the goalline. Therefore, no goal for us in the first half and a lot to think about for the second one. It was ´not a bad game, but for a team like Hamburg, who is still hoping to qualify for the international places, this effort was not enough.

Second half

Fast forward to the second half. It pretty much began the same way the first half had ended and turned out to be much more exciting than the first half was all long. At least for us Dortmund fans. Again a perfect pass from Sahin onto Götze marked the first chance of the second half. Götze, however, lifted the ball over the goal. Lucky for us since it had been offside anyway. No need to get frustruated and there was still some time to play. By now, Hamburg seemed to have been fallen asleep. What had worked out so well for them in the first half (strong defense), was not working at all anymore. After 56 minutes Barrios header from a 12 meter distance didn't find its way into the goal and the by storming Piszczek missed the next chance in the 64th minute when he shot from a good position, but hit Aogo from where the ball dropped against the goal post. I actually don't really want to know how many times we have hit the post or the crossbar already during this season. Unbelievable. But suddenly our team was there, this was the effort we all wanted to see, they tried very hard to score the 1:1, unfortunately the accuracy will never become our best friend anymore. At least not when it comes to our chances. Or so it seems at times. While Elia proved our Weidenfeller in the 58th minute as well, that was basically it from Hamburgs side.

On the other hand Dortmund now gave away a number of great chances. Bender got the ball on the right side of the penalty area and headed it over to Barrios who was waiting in the middle- but again, the only thing Barrios his was the crossbar, not, however, the net. The ball that was bouncing back landed in front of Hummels feet but also Hummels didn't manage to somehow get the ball behind the goalline. Still 1:0 for Hamburg. The next thing that followed was not another huge chance on our side but a red card for Hamburgs Ben-Hadira. The last hope for us, to finally score. But it didn't look like that on that day. On Saturday it seemed like all the luck was missing on our side. Our players tried so hard, the were eager, they threw themselves into the duels and a 1:1 would have been more than deserved by this point. And suddenly- when all hope seemed to have vanished- there it was: this magical moment, a moment that we had witnessed before throughout this season, and it never loses any of its magic. After a long ball from Schmelzer, Owomoyela who was back in the team, headed the ball over to the right side, where suddenly Kuba appeared. And Kuba simply took the ball straight away and shot it into the net. 1:1 in the 93rd minute of the game. In this moment, everyone seemed to explode. All the unfortunate moments before and then this. Our Jürgen Klopp totally lost his mind and started running down the side of the pitch. Where he was going? I have no idea, he was just running- that was pure joy. Us fans we were utterly happy and the team celebrated like they had just achieved a victory. Wonderful.

Thoughts

What a day. Our Borussia simply showed great moral and moreover they proved that they never give up. Hoffenheim, Köln, Hamburg, only to mention a few games where we turned around a game or gathered at least one well deserved point, in moments where everybody had stopped believing. We are very proud of you dear Borussia. Unfortunately Neverkusen won against St. Pauli (2:1) which leads us to 5 remaining points ahead. I have good faith though, that everything will work out fine. This was a difficult game against a team who is like a surprise-box.- you never know what you will get, and furthermore Hamburg still has ambitions to qualify for the Euro League. It wasn't an easy game.
The moment that got stuck in my head, however, is the moment after the goal. This has happened quite a few times before and I always feel that it is not recognized enough. Our Roman Weidenfeller, who is like a wall in our goal- the way he celebrates with the team. The way he comes running across the whole pitch after important goals is amazing. It shows how much this teams means to him and that he is a "Dortmunder Jung"- just like all of us are. I am sure that we will have more reasons to celebrate again next Sunday against Freiburg. In our beloved Westfalenstadion.