A win for Hamburg could’ve taken them level on points with opponent’s Eintracht Frankfurt, up one place to fifth tenth. Mirko Slomka was looking restart the Hamburg revival and grab his second win of the season as Hamburg boss.
A win for Frankfurt could’ve gone to eleventh in the league with twenty-eight points ahead of Hannover 96 and Werder Bremen if results went their way.
Last meeting between the two teams finished two-a-piece, both sides certainly looking for a win. The last meeting at the Imtech Area finished with 'die Adler' taking the three points.
The first attempt of the game was from far out from Van der Vaart, the attempt was well gathered by Kevin Trapp. Another long-range chance from Heiko Westermann was to follow, but Trapp wasn’t troubled, unsurprisingly.
Eintracht Frankfurt’s corner was flicked to Marco Russ, his header forced Rene Adler into a great save to keep Hamburg from falling behind. From the resulting corner, the cross was cleared but the danger was still there. The loose ball was won by a Frankfurt player which fell to Alexander Madlung; who took it onto his chest and scissor-kicked it passed the outstretched arms of Rene Adler. A fantastic goal for the veteran centre-half, a thunderous strike to add to his small collection of wonder strikes.
Hamburg had a costless kick in a dangerous position at the edge of the box, Johan Djourou beat his marker to the ball but the on-loan Arsenal man couldn’t equalise. Hakan Calhanoglu, looking to repeat his screamer against Borussia Dortmund. However, it wasn't to be. Hisshot was awkward for Kevin Trapp, but it was well saved.
Half-time: HSV 0-1 Eintracht Frankfurt.
Mirko Slomka seemed to have put his players into gear during the interval; the pressure was building on the Frankfurt defence. A teasing ball from Hakan Calhanoglu should have been met, but a white shirt couldn’t get on the end of the cross, agonizingly close to levelling for the struggling Hamburg.
A through ball found Jacques Zoua, his shot was scuffed wide, not troubling Kevin Trapp to the dismay of the fans and players. Frustation began to grow within the Hamburg ranks, after having a handful of chances to peg themselves back into the game. A few minutes later, another chance for Zoua he cut inside on his left foot and his fires a powerful shot goal-wards, but a superb save from Kevin Trapp, diving to his right, denied Hamburg once again. The best chance of the game for Hamburg.
A shot from Tomas Rincon dipped in front of Kevin Trapp, from the rebound Jacques Zoua was brought down and a penalty was awarded. Hamburg's top scorer Hakan Calhanoglu stepped up and fired into the roof of the net to level - a crucial goal for Hamburg, hoping to avoid the drop.
Frankfurt had their backs against the wall and were hoping to hold on for the last fifteen minutes. A counter attack from Frankfurt down the right flank on the break, however no Frankfurt players could finish it off.
A final chance for Hamburg to snatch all three points occured. The opportunity fell to Robert Tesche, who beat his marker to the cross but his header was an easy catch for Kevin Trapp - the theme of this game was Trapp in possession of Hamburg's lack of lethal finishing.
Full time at the Imtech Arena resulted in a draw.Hamburger SV 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt. Alexander Madlung's acrobatic effort was cancelled out by a harsh penalty decision in favour of the host’s Hamburg.
Mirko Slomka’s side grabbed a crucial point in their bid to beat the relegation zone. The draw left them on twenty points along with fifteenth placed, VFB Stuttgart.
Eintracht Frankfurt couldn’t repeat last seasons result and move up to twelfth one point ahead of Werder Bremen, who have a game in hand of Armin Veh’s side.