Hamburger SV are now in their third year of attempting to get out of the second division and back to where they feel they feel they belong, in the Bundesliga. The previous two campaigns saw their promotion push derailed by dramatic collapses in form at the business end of the season, often in quite comical circumstances.
“HSV Promotion Push v3“ got off to a cracking start, with the club on the Elbe winning their first five games and racing out to a five point lead over nearby Holstein Kiel. A 2-2 draw with local rivals St Pauli in the Hamburg derby saw the first dropped points of the season, but the five point gap was still intact. However the following week saw Kiel score an injury time equaliser to deprive HSV of all three points.
In the subsequent international break these setbacks appear to have had a disastrous effect on the psyche of the club as they have lost twice since, to VfL Bochum at home and now to FC Heidenheim, the team that pipped them into third place last season. Both games were settled by late goals, Bochum scored in the 78th and 82nd minute, whilst FCH‘s Christian Kuhlwetter completed his hat trick in the 90th minute. Imagine how good HSV would be if they could see out games without conceding in the last 15 minutes.
So after leading the table comfortably at the end of October, they are now in second place as Gruether Fürth won their own derby against 1.FC Nuremburg, their fifth victory in a row (since being beaten by HSV ironically) and now sit atop the league and on a great run of form. Hamburg will hope to turn around their terrible run when Hannover 96, without a win in their last four games themselves, visit next weekend.
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