It wasn't a perfect end to the Dubai training camp for Hamburg, who lost 2-0 at the Hazza Bin Zayed stadium after goals from Jovetic and Dzeko for City, but there were positives.
The game was open from the start, and youngster Gouaida had a big chance in the 5th minute, but he blazed over from Marcos’ clipped cross on the left.
James Milner was a constant threat for Manchester City going forward in the first half. On separate occasions in the 12th and 20th minute he put dangerous balls across the box, but nobody was on hand for easy tap ins.
HSV more than held their own during the first half, and some lovely link up play between Innocent Emeghara and Zoltan Steiber created an opportunity for Rudnevs in the 27th minute, but he blasted over.
In the 38th minute of a competitive half it appeared City would take the lead as Milner burst through the Hamburg line, but Rajkovic produced a heroic sliding challenge to make sure parity was maintained.
Hamburg had a goal disallowed just two minutes before the break as a shot from Steiber was adjudged to have been flicked in by a player in an offside position, but in real time it looked a tight decision.
The teams went in level at half time, and Zinnbauer will have seen plenty of positive from a confident HSV team who had taken the game to their opponents.
Hamburg made a triple substitution at half time as Adler, Cleber and Jansen came on in place of Drobny, Djourou and Marcos.
The deadlock was broken in the 50th minute as Evans produced a classy ball over the top of the HSV back line where Jovetic was on hand to control and score, despite Adler almost saving the attempt.
On the hour Die Rothosen made two more changes, Beister and Philipp Müller entering in place of Emerghara and van der Vaart. Six minutes later Westermann and Kacar came on for Rajkovic and Stieber.
Gouaida was at the heart of everything going forward for Hamburg, which was an encouraging sign. In the 70th minute he and Beister linked up well to cause City problems, and a minute later he cut inside well before shooting just over.
However in the 74th minute it was the sky blues who extended their lead after some classy work from Edin Dzeko. The Bosnian cut inside Westermann on the corner of the box before curling an effort past Adler inside the far left post, making it 2-0 to Manchester City.
More changes for HSV in the 76th minute, with Green and A. Arslan coming on in place of Rudnevs and Gouaida respectively.
The newly introduced Arslan had a big chance in the final minute of normal time after a cross to the far post from the left by-line found him unmarked, but he headed over the bar from just a few yards out.
Youngster Celina had a one-on-one opportunity for MCFC in the dying seconds, but he grabbed at the chance and sent the ball high into the stands.
The full time whistle went in Dubai, with City the eventual 2-0 winners in an exciting encounter for the supporters to view. Outnumbered by the local City fans, the few Hamburg supporters will take positives from this game as it is fair to say the team had the better of open play.
Finishing in the final third and finding the killer pass were lacking again, such is the theme of the season, but the built up play and movement was sharp and smart. Zinnbauer is clearly sculpting and perfecting the tactics for his club, and with a couple of additions possible before Matchday 18 it will be interesting to see how the Rickrunder goes for Der Dinosauriers.
Coach Zinnbauer praised his side, but acknowledged the difficulty of friendly situations.
“We played well. Due to the many changes though we lost our flow,” he said in the post-match press conference.
“It was a good end to a great training camp.”
Rafael van der Vaart was grateful for the opportunity to play against the Premier League Champions.
"It was fun to play against such a stellar squad. We are on the right track,” said the Dutchman to BILD.
“I’m going home after the training camp with a good feeling.”
Hamburg return home after a win, loss and draw across the three matches they had at the camp, and the good feeling under Zinnbauer is resonating as they near crucial clashes with FC Köln and Paderborn.
