“Brilliant energy” – Poulsen’s best HSV display yet! | OneFootball

Yussuf Poulsen has repeatedly been held back by injuries. In the home game against 1. FC Köln, he took on the influential role HSV had once envisioned when signing him.

At first, however, the striker once again had to watch events unfold from the bench. Terem Moffi took his place, but in his first start — also due to his team’s very defensive approach — he struggled to get involved. Despite leading, Merlin Polzin’s coaching staff reacted at halftime and brought on Poulsen, who needed less than five minutes to turn Albert Grønbaek’s cross over the line for 2:0.

But even aside from only his second goal in an HSV shirt, Poulsen’s substitution had a huge impact. Time and again, he occupied Köln’s center-backs Jahmai Simpson-Pussey and Luka Lochoshvili, winning four of his five ground duels. The Dane recorded 26 touches of the ball — predecessor Moffi managed only five — and also had two more dangerous efforts that could have sealed the result.

Photo: Getty Images

Can HSV rely on Poulsen for longer?

Instead, after Ragnar Ache pulled one back, HSV briefly had to fear for the win again. In the end, though, the long-awaited first victory of the season was on the board, and his teammates afterwards were full of praise for Poulsen. “It was very obvious that Yussi brought great energy, a great presence. He held up every ball from me really well today,” raved goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes, who was also in excellent form, (via Mopo).

His words were echoed by Nicolai Remberg, who took over the captaincy from Poulsen before the season: “Yussi presses like crazy and holds the ball up. You could really see that well today.” In any case, there was “no need to talk about his quality,” Heuer Fernandes made clear: “When he’s on the pitch, he represents a certain kind of football. And you could see that clearly for 45 minutes today.”

Nur die Raute – All the news about HSV

Poulsen — whose only previous HSV goal had come in the derby win over Werder Bremen (3:2) — has not exactly been on the pitch often since his arrival. He has played in just 20 of 42 competitive matches and has only been in the starting lineup twice. In contrast, he has already accumulated around 150 days out injured. HSV will hope the experienced center-forward’s body continues to hold up. If it does, the extended international break could leave him in line for his third start when HSV visit Hoffenheim.

Photo: Getty Images

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.