Football United

They’ve done it! HSV reached the group stages of the UEFA Cup, in a match with a storyline, which Agatha Christie would have been proud of. The final twist in the tail of a dramatic game came in the third minute of injury time, as the English referee Messias gave HSV a penalty which should never been given. Rafael van der Vaart slotted home the spot kick to give HSV a 1-0 victory over the Danish league leaders FC Copenhagen.

Moral support
HSV coach Thomas Doll was without Mehdi Mahdavikia, Bastian Reinhardt and Collin Benjamin because of injury, but was able to recall Khalid Boulahrouz and Raphael Wicky to the first team. The injured trio were in the sold our Parken stadium in Copenhagen to cheer their team mates on.



Danish wall unbreachable
The game began as expected, with the Danes playing two rows of four players in front of their penalty area, and HSV struggling to break down that Danish wall. Stefan Beinlich fired in an initial warning shot on 7 minutes, but HSV really struggled to make any kind of headway during the opening exchanges. A corner from the right by Beinlich found Sergej Barbarez in space inside the six yard box. Somehow the Bosnian blasted the ball just over the bar as it looked easier to score.

Wächter on his guard
The home side had only one chance during the first half and HSV’s keeper Wächter dealt with the threat well. The game remained goalless at half time. One couldn’t blame the home side for their defensive tactics; after all, a goalless draw would have sent them through to the group stages.



Injury time winner
The sell out crowd in the Parken stadium saw a similar start to the second half to that of the first. HSV had more possession, but was unable to crack the superb home defence. On 54 minutes, Benlich put Mpenza through with an excellent pass. The Belgian striker however blew his chance from a promising position. That chance signalled the start of a dramatic and exciting period of the match. Jarolim was booked for diving, and the referee saw a hand ball and gave HSV an extremely dubious penalty. The home side can rightly feel hard done by because as the ball struck the arm of a Danish defender, his arm was pressed right against his body. Barbarez took the crucial spot kick poorly, and Danish keeper Christiansen easily saved the effort diving to his right.

Boulah sent off!
On 84 minutes there was further drama, as Khalid Boulahrouz was sent off for a clumsy foul. The game became a more open affair the nearer the final whistle came. Copenhagen began to attack which finally gave HSV more room to operate. Thomas Doll was sent to the stands by the referee and the game became more heated as the referee issued several yellow cards.



Final drama
Just as the home side and their brilliant fans thought that they were into the group stages of the UEFA Cup, there was a final twist in the tail in a game which was not to be topped regarding drama. In the third minute of injury time, the referee gave an almost identical penalty as the first. Once again the arm of the Danish defender was pressed against his body and the penalty was given anyway. This time, Dutch ace van der Vaart took the spot kick and blasted tit past Christiansen to give HSV a remarkable and it must be said very lucky win.



FC Kopenhagen: Christiansen - Jacobsen, Svensson (82.Thomassen), Gravgaard, Bergdölmo - Linderoth, van Heerden (87.Röll), Silberbauer, Fredgaard - Möller, Santos

Hamburger SV: Wächter - Demel, Boulahrouz, van Buyten, Atouba - Wicky (61.Trochowski), Jarolim (72.Takahara), Beinlich, van der Vaart - Barbarez, Mpenza (83.Lauth)

Goal: 0:1 van der Vaart (90+2)



Source: Hsv.de