A draw was all Hamburg and Köln could muster on their opening game of the season, as both failed to create enough chances. While, they were equally as wasteful when they came.

Köln were without five players coming into the game, none more important than talisman Patrick Helmes. The striker, born-and-bred in the city, had fired his side to 2.Bundesliga glory last year, with 13 goals. The Rhineland side had to cope without Kazuki Nagasawa, Thomas Bröker; Sławomir Peszko and Dušan Švento. Peter Stöger made two changes to the game against FT Braunschweig in the DFB Pokal, with Paweł Olkowski and Mërgim Mavraj dropped for Kevin Wimmer and Marcel Risse. Stöger's side wasted more chances than any other 2.Bundesliga side last year, he'll be hoping Yuya Osako and Anthony Ujah can set the record straight.

Hamburg, who had only lost once in their last six trips to the RheinEnergieStadion, were keen to right the wrongs of last term. Pierre-Michel Lasogga, responsible for the goal that kept HSV's Bundesliga record blemish costless, was signed on a permanent deal from Hertha BSC. Lasogga, who scored more than a goal-a-game last year, was hopeful of trying to stay fit for the entire campaign. While their marquee signing was fit, two other new faces were not. Zoltan Stieber and Nicolai Müller both missed the game, along with Gojko Kacar, Slobodan Rajkovic and Maximilian Beister. HSV were fresh from an unconvincing win, in a Pokal penalty-shoot, against Energie Cottbus and made two alterations from that side. Pierre-Michel Lasogga returned to lead the line in place of Artjoms Rudnevs, while Petr Jiracek was replaced by Tolgay Arslan.

The cagey and tense opening was more of a midfield tussle than anything else. However, after Rene Adler was forced to palm away a Miso Brecko cross, that seemed to spark HSV into life. Timo Horn was called into action twice in quick succession, as he palmed away Rafael van der Vaart and Tolgay Arslan's probing efforts. The Dutchman had appeared to signal to the bench, as if he had a problem, but his deadly left foot had Horn scrambling again. Adam Matuschyk had Adler in a similar situation and the resulting corner fell to Daniel Halfar, he sent his vicious volley skimming over the crossbar.

Horn was then alert to stop a bending van der Vaart costless-kick, curling with pace, the goalkeeper spread himself well before gathering the rebound. The away side were looking increasingly dangerous from set-pieces, but silly fouls in the area were costing them good opportunities to test Horn. Kevin Wimmer and Dominic Maroh seemed nervous when dealing with Pierre-Michel Lasogga and Johan Djourou's sizeable frames. Van der Vaart then had another effort from range, but Horn was able to look it fly past his post. Van der Vaart almost turned in a Lasogga knock-down, but the first half failed to provide a clear cut chance for either side.

The second half began with Hamburg on top, Ivo Iličević had two great chances to open the scoring. His header fell straight at Timo Horn and he wriggled through the attentions of the Köln defence, before the Croat scuffed his finish. Anthony Ujah then headed straight at Rene Adler, when it only needed to be placed either side of the goalkeeper. Yuya Osako then wasted a good chance, firing high and wide, after Miso Brecko robbed Valon Behrami of possession. These were the best chances of an unimpressive game, with the sides struggling to gain the upper-hand. Kevin Vogt came on for Osako to add some steel to the midfield, with Peter Stöger seemingly keen to retain the ball.

The game lacked any real spark from the start and as the final twenty minutes beckoned, it seemed that both sides would take the draw. Fouls and missed opportunities dominated a bitty and niggly game, but Marcel Risse's shot was well stopped by Adler as the hosts tried to make the breakthrough. Jonas Hector had to be alert, as he blocked Arslan's snapshot volley.

That's how the game finished, as both teams will be happy to gain a point from their opening games. Mirko Slomka will be delighted that he's put a run of nine away defeats in a row to bed, but will feel that Rafael van der Vaart or Ivo Iličević could have won them the game. It's also a steady start for Stöger's men, who also had their chances. In truth, it was a tale of two strong defences who canceled each other out.

The player ratings from today's game, via WhoScored.com
VAVEL Logo
About the author
Jonathan Walsh
SoccerSight IFA commentator. VAVEL deputy editor-in-chief/VAVEL Bundesliga editor-in-chief and writer. Email: [email protected]