After Vladimir Darida's penalty was saved after two minutes, the game looked like it could spark off in anyway direction. However, it failed to get going after the early action and it ended in stalemate.

After conceding a late, late equaliser against Paderborn last weekend, Christian Streich took to the Freiburg dug-out for the 100th time. With his side sitting in sixteenth, he knew as well as anyone that a win would be vital against a fellow bottom half team. There were just two changes from the 1-1 draw in the Benteler-Arena, as Sebastian Freis and Pavel Krmas made way for Karim Guede and Marc-Oliver Kempf.

As for Hamburg and Josef Zinnbauer, they were coming off the back of a well-deserved three points against Mainz. Despite a late scare, it was a fully deserved win and their second in three games. Zinnbauer would have been expecting to build on it, despite a tough trip to Freiburg, so he stuck with a similar side that triumphed 2-1; Petr Jiracek dropped to the bench to allow the returning Valon Behrami back into the starting eleven.

They didn't get off to the idea start, however, as Freiburg had a penalty within the first sixty seconds. Young Ronny Marcos brought down Felix Klaus, although he caught him while clearing the ball. HSV protests fell on deaf ears and Vladimir Darida stepped up for his second penalty in as many weeks, but it was a poor effort and Jaroslav Drobny managed to turn it away to safety.

Pierre-Michel Lasogga had the only opening for the visitors early on, but his header drifted just wide of Roman Bürki's post. Set-pieces and Dennis Diekmeier's long throw-ins were causing trouble, with Kempf having to be alert to keep out Nicolai Müller. Behrami also had a crack at his fellow countryman, but Bürki was able to gather at the second time of asking.

The game was chugging along without any real incident after the penalty, something that Streich was trying to change; the usual hand gestures were making an appearance, as he attempted to get the game going. One aspect the game wasn't lacking was effort, as the players flew into tackles and blocks without hesitation; although it was crying out for someone to grab the ball and make something happen.

The home side came out the strongest after the break, with Jonathan Schmid's flying header forced Drobny into another good save. The left-hand side was proving very fruitful for Freiburg; Christian Günter's driving run halted by Johan Djourou, just before he could get a shot off. The rain began to fall in the Schwarzwald-Stadion but that wouldn't dampen the fans spirit, even with the uneventful game to boot.

Müller's deflected cross glanced the crossbar, with Bürki beaten, but no-one was at the back post to convert. Freiburg were lucky not not have a penalty given against them, too. Diekmeier's run down the right was matched stride for stride by Günter, though his cross hit the hand of the home defender and, unfortunately for HSV, a second penalty decision had gone against them. Mohamed Gouaida's header almost found the back of the net, but it went inches wide of the goal.

The draw doesn't do much for either side. Freiburg move up one place to fifteenth, after Dortmund lost in Berlin. Hamburg fall to sixteenth, thanks to Hertha's 1-0 win. Both take to the field on Tuesday night again, as Freiburg travel to Bayern Munich and HSV play host to fellow strugglers Freiburg.