Hamburg captain Yussuf Poulsen (31) backs Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer (24) after youngster scores first Bundesliga goal | OneFootball

The scorer of a dramatic late equalizer that enabled newly promoted Bundesliga outfit Hamburg to nick a point off Borussia Dortmund on Saturday turned out to be HSV attacker most in need of a breakthrough. After ten German top flight appearances, the oft-maligned Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer finally has his first Bundesliga goal, exactly two weeks after missing a crucial penalty against Wolfsburg.  

The 24-year-old – in his first Bundesliga season – has come under fire for failing to score despite nine consecutive appearances in the Hamburg season. Königsdörffer was finally replaced by head coach Merlin Polzin by new squad captain Yussuf Poulsen, who himself has been the subject of parallel criticism. Saturday’s result enabled Hamburg to silence two sets of critics simultaneously. 

Polzin’s decision to anoint Poulsen skipper had its fair share of critics as the Danish veteran’s struggles with injury have meant that Poulsen has barely been able to feature on the pitch. Polzin consistently argued that Poulsen’s leadership abilities in the locker room outweighed this. In any event, Poulsen made just his first start through 12 competitive HSV fixtures on Saturday. 

Königsdörffer, whom so many argued simply wasn’t capable of hacking it at the top level, now has a huge weight off his shoulders. In acknowledgement of his critics, the German-Ghanaian placed his fingers to his lips whilst celebrating his tally on Sunday. Poulsen – who was directly relieved by Königsdörffer in the 62nd-minute – also demonstrated that he was a quality leader in his post-match comments. 

“I said then that his goal would come eventually,” Poulsen remarked in the mixed zone. “Because he works hard for the team. Eventually, he will be rewarded for that. Some of you were also hard on him.”

GGFN | Peter Weis