We've seen this before? HSV suffer wild déjà vu against Köln | OneFootball

A 2–1 win over Heidenheim is followed by an equally narrow victory over Cologne. On matchday four, HSV experienced a strange déjà vu.

Sometimes football really does write the craziest stories—and sometimes they are the kind you do not recognize right away. But if we look more closely, we quickly notice that Hamburger SV experienced an absolute déjà vu on matchday four of this season. After some partly disastrous defeats, the Red Shorts won their first game against FC Cologne and scored their first two Bundesliga goals.

The opponent had a different name, and yet some very strange parallels to matchday four of last season can be seen. Back then, the opponent was FC Heidenheim. After a 0–0 draw in Gladbach on the opening matchday and two straight defeats against FC St. Pauli (0–2) and in Munich (0–5 from HSV’s point of view), their first win also came in their second home game. Just like this year, they had no goals and no win up to that point. Last year, the Polzin side only had one more point on the board.

Heuer Fernandes saves his team

But it was not only the result—the match itself unfolded in alarmingly similar fashion. In the opening stages against Heidenheim, it was solely thanks to the strong saves of goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes that HSV did not fall behind. Against Cologne, too, the reliable keeper intervened against Moore, El Mala, and Dallinga among others, preventing an early setback.

Photo: IMAGO

Last year, Luka Vušković gave HSV a rather flattering and, at that stage, not necessarily deserved lead before the break (42'). Against Cologne, the hero this time was Nicolas Capaldo: three minutes before halftime, he bundled the ball into the net after a corner. The celebrations were huge on both occasions, and the same probably goes for the relief. It is also noteworthy that in both cases, a defender scored the northern club’s first goal of the season from a set piece.

HSV improve but still have to sweat it out

So twice, on a fourth matchday, the Volksparkstadion shook for the first time in this way. And after the break, both matches followed a similar pattern as well. HSV gradually stabilized and pushed forward more and more. While both Heidenheim last year and Cologne this year missed good chances to equalize, HSV extended their lead. Against FCH, Vieira set up Philippe (59'); against Cologne, it happened even faster: substitute Poulsen made it 2–0, a goal that was also wildly celebrated.

IMAGO

In both matches, HSV were unable to calmly see out their first win of the season. Back then, Bundesliga debutant Kölle made for a tense period of stoppage time three minutes after the end of regular time. Against Cologne, Ache pulled one back with a header to make it 2–1. Once again, Hamburg’s fans were left to sweat.

As we know, both times had a happy ending. The Polzin team held on to both narrow leads. The message and the hope that can be drawn from this seem clear: last season, matchday four was the wake-up call after a pretty dismal start. HSV then pulled themselves together, hit their stride, and ultimately secured survival before the final run-in. So all HSV fans will likely agree and hope that these curious parallels with last season continue in just the same way.

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