Köln put in another impressive performance in front of their own fans, securing a hard-fought 2-1 win over Hamburger SV.

A defence dominated first-half

It was a rather uneventful opening at the RheinEnergie Stadion and neither side looked particularly like they would open the scoring early on. There was real concern for the Billy Goats when goal-getter Anthony Modeste went down after colliding with René Adler; thankfully for the hosts, he was up again soon after.

Adler had been controlling his area well but was also injuring those in front of him with similar regularity. Cleber and Simon Zoller were the latest in the firing line, with the former requiring treatment to continue. The 'keeper himself had been slightly hurt too, prompting Andreas Hirzel to warm up.

The first real chance of the game fell to Hamburg and Cleber. The Brazilian defender rose highest to meet Lewis Holtby's delivery and nearly found the far corner of Timo Horn's goal, only for Jonas Hector to get back on his line and recover the situation.

Eventually Adler could take the pain no more and HSV had to bring off their captain. Youngster Hirzel came on for his very first Bundesliga appearance. The visitors' defence did a fine job of protecting him until the break, where he remained on field to take shots from the Hamburg goalkeeper coach.

HSV go ahead

After the break, the attentions quickly turned from defence to attack and HSV took advantage of a mistake in the home defence. Sven Schipplock nipped in ahead of the stalling defenders and drove to the by-line before cutting back to Holtby. The former Schalke man made no mistake, side-footing into the far corner from 10 yards out.

Ivo Ilicevic was next to try his luck and try it he did, bringing out the best of Timo Horn. The talented custodian had to stretch himself to the limits to get fingertips on Ilicevic's effort, flicking it onto the bar. Anthony Modeste went close in reply, as the game began to liven up.  He had another chance to score but shot straight at Hirzel, while Michael Gregoritsch's free-kick was parried away by Horn.

Late drama for the Billy Goats

Horn's hard work looked like it would go without reward but Philipp Hosnier changed all that. Jonas Hector whipped the ball in from out wide and a rather helpful deflection from Dennis Diekmeier took the ball straight into the alter Austrian's path. Cleber and Emir Spahic were nowhere to be seen, and Hosnier poked the ball home from a few yards out.

That goal turned the game on its head and the hosts' were to benefit from that. Milos Jojic and Modeste broke clear and the Frenchman was found well by the former before being fouled by Spahic. Deniz Aytekin had no choice but to brandish the red card, as Modeste got back up and calmly converted the penalty to complete the five minute turnaround and secure another win for the hosts.

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About the author
Jonathan Walsh
SoccerSight IFA commentator. VAVEL deputy editor-in-chief/VAVEL Bundesliga editor-in-chief and writer. Email: [email protected]