Hamburg travelled the short distance to Bremen for what was one of the most important Nordderby clashes between the two sides in a long time. The visitors, still rooted to the bottom of the table and with a new manager in Bruno Labaddia, were hoping for a league double over their bitter rivals that would see them leap out of the bottom two in the 102nd meeting between the two teams. Werder, whose fine Rückrunde form has seen them rocket to 10th in the league, would love nothing more than to pile more misery on the old enemy.
Junuzovic, a reported interest of HSV in January, was hauled down in the fourth minute for a promising free-kick. However, his effort struck the top of the wall and was cleared by the visitors. Pierre-Michel Lasogga hit a well-struck volley in the 8th minute after a neat interchange, but his fizzing effort couldnt catch out young Casteels in the Werder goal as he held comfortably.
Jannick Vestegaard was forced off in the 23rd minute having been the victim of a shocking challenge from Rafael van der Vaart a few minutes previous. The challenge only earnt the Dutchman a talking to, but his studs connected with the Dane's shin so he was lucky to escape punishment.
Hamburg showed their first signs of intent in the 28th minute when Westermann's ball through found Lasogga, who pulled back across goal and the ball deflected away to safety. From the resulting throw-in Zoltan Stieber was inches away from making it 1-0 as the ball fell to him on the edge of the area, but his effort was narrowly wide. Franco Di Santo came close with a 33rd minute shot in which he did well to get in front of his marker and connect with Selke's cross, but his eventual effort was a few yards over and wide of the near right post.
Selke had a real opportunity to give Bremen the lead two minutes before half time, as Di Santo was set loose down the right side, crossing beautifully for the unmarked Selke who hit hit first time half-volley over and wide when he should have done better. The teams went in level at 0-0, with both teams having one clear opportunity each, but the overriding theme was a scrappiness and lack of quality.
Labaddia had a crucial half-time talk to give to his players, and will likely have been encouraged by the tame peformance of the home side.
Stieber had an opportunity early in the second half as he found space to shoot on the edge of the box following a low cross, but his effort was disappointing and Casteels saved comfortably. Werder had a penalty shout in the 52nd minute as a goalmouth scramble resulted in an offside decision against Selke, but Junuzovic was chopped down after the ball was played, but nothing given.
Oztunali entered the pitch for Bremen in the 58th minute, adding another layer of fiestiness to the encounter, as he is the grandson of Hamburg legend Uwe Seeler playing for the biggest rivals of the club on-loan from Bayer Leverksuen, another rival of HSV.
di Santo wriggled free of a challenge on the edge of the box and hit a testing shot just past the hour mark, but Rene Adler saved comfortably as the lack of chances was beginning to make both teams desperate.
Davie Selke, on his way to RB Leipzig in the summer, was a presence all day and a source of problem down the right for Hamburg. He had a shot from a narrow angle well saved by Adler in the 74th minute, while up the other end seconds later Müller had the ball taken away as he was about to pull the trigger on the edge of the box. Right on the 80th minute Adler made a fantastic save with his outstretched left hand, tipping a superb volleyed effort around the post from Oztunali.
Derby games rarely pass without drama, and it came just a minute later.
The ball deflected through for Junuzovic, who was hauled down by Valon Behrami. Referee Wolfgang Stark pointed straight to the spot and gave Behrami his marching orders, and the responsibility was with Di Santo for Werder.
Franco Di Santo sent Adler the wrong way to give Werder a 1-0 lead with just minutes left, a bitter blow from the visitors who needed an instant response.
However, the game rather dwindled out and there was no further opportunities for either side. A big defeat for Hamburg, one that will be made all the worse by the fact it was handed to them by Werder.
The home side move into seventh on 38 points, while HSV remain bottom with a meager 25 points. With huge games against Mainz, Freiburg and Stuttgart still to come, they are not dead and buried yet, but it will take every ounce of effort from Labaddia's men to preserve the Dinosaur status.
