HSV endure first half to forget: “We let them pin us back” | OneFootball

Shortly after the final whistle, Nicolai Remberg’s disappointment was plain to see. The HSV captain knew exactly why his team had come off second best in their Bundesliga opener at Borussia Dortmund, losing 0-2.

The midfielder was particularly annoyed by the first 45 minutes. “In the first half, we let ourselves get pushed back far too deep,” Remberg analyzed on Sky. And in fact, Merlin Polzin’s team struggled to get any real foothold in the game in front of 81,365 spectators at Signal Iduna Park.

BVB dominated the opening phase at will, took an early lead through Serhou Guirassy, and added a second shortly before the break thanks to an unfortunate deflected own goal by Sebastiaan Bornauw. The clear 0-2 deficit at halftime was a pretty accurate reflection of the balance of power on the pitch.

Remberg gives HSV teammates “great respect” for the second half

All the more notable from Hamburg’s perspective was the response after the break. HSV played with much more courage, won more challenges, and also created dangerous attacking moves of their own. Albert Grønbaek tested Gregor Kobel from distance, while Patson Daka hit the post. Later, the visitors piled on even more pressure after a red card for Dortmund’s Samuele Inacio. But the goal to pull one back never came.

Photo: IMAGO

Even so, it was important to Remberg to highlight the improvement in performance. “Great respect to the guys for the way so many of them came out after halftime,” said the captain, referring to his team’s clearly improved display after the break.

For the 26-year-old, that is also the most important takeaway from the evening. “We have to show that from the first minute, not just in the second half,” Remberg demanded. Despite the defeat, he did not want to completely ignore the positive aspects of the performance. “A loss always sucks, but we’re still leaving here with an okay feeling.”

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