Dominant TSG held to draw

Julian Nagelsmann sent the following eleven men out for the friendly against Dutch top division side SBV Excelsior Rotterdam: Oliver Baumann, Benjamin Hübner, captain Kevin Vogt, Stefan Posch, Steven Zuber, Pavel Kaderabek, Florian Grillitsch, Dennis Geiger, Lukas Rupp, Serge Gnabry and Mark Uth.  

TSG showed great fighting spirit and determination from the off, which resulted in some excellent chances being created in the opening stages. Mark Uth’s shot on the turn after three minutes zipped just wide of the right post. No longer than a minute later, Lukas Rupp was played in one-on-one against the Dutch keeper who blocked the shot to keep the score at 0-0.

After a couple of passed up opportunities from TSG, the visitors from the Netherlands showed they are a force to be reckoned with, making no mistake with their first chance after 16 minutes: Mike van Duinen won his foot race and left Oliver Baumann no chance with a precise finish.

TSG refused to let the setback faze them: Julian Nagelsmann’s men continued to crop up in front of the opposition’s goal with good chances, crucially though, without converting. Dennis Geiger, Lukas Rupp and Mark Uth were all unfortunate not to find the quick equaliser. Time and time again, TSG caused Rotterdam problems at the back, making their slender lead look ever more flattering.   

First TSG goal of the New Year

After around half an hour, Serge Gnabry broke the curse and scored TSG’s first goal of 2018. The forward showed excellent determination to dispossess the defenders in their build-up play, danced around the keeper and pushed the ball over the line for the equaliser.

In the 35th minute, the game was almost turned successfully in Hoffenheim’s favour: Florian Grillitsch struck the ball on the half-volley and only the fingertips of Rotterdam’s Zwarthoed came between him and putting TSG in front. Five minutes later, however, it was time: Mark Uth’s corner fizzed through the penalty area, all the way to Pavel Kaderabek at the back post, who had the simple task of making it 2-1, at which the teams went in for the half-time break.  

After the change of ends, a series of unfortunate events at the back for TSG were soon followed by another Mike van Duinen goal – making the score 2-2. Hoffenheim shook off the equaliser and began to dictate the game in an attacking manner once more. Lukas Rupp once again found himself through on goal, but once again, he was denied by the visiting goalkeeper.

Uth misses from the spot

To make matters worse, in the 57th minute, Mark Uth missed a penalty after Serge Gnabry had been fouled in the box.

In the 65th minute, all three outfield players left in the squad were introduced to the game. Robin Hack, David Otto and Simon Lorent replaced Serge Gnarby, Mark Uth and Stefan Posch. The nature of the game however remained unchanged, with TSG on the front foot, playing well, but ultimately failing to find a winner. So, somewhat unlucky from a Hoffenheim perspective, the game ended 2-2.

Match reaction:

Julian Nagelsmann: "This friendly was of great significance to us and, unfortunately, we weren’t good enough in a lot of areas: defending and chance conversion to name a couple. We tried to bring in a few changes to how high up we press today, which didn’t work out because of how wide the opposition was. This meant we often had to play deeper than we wanted to. I’m not pleased with our performance today. Today’s game was a good example of how we had been playing in the Europa League: seven one-on-one chances and not a single one converted. Rotterdam on the other hand scored two goals from two chances - that just can’t happen. We’re not defending well enough as a team; the opposition scored far too easily. We should have been 2-0 up after 20 minutes today but just couldn’t score. We have to be more ruthless in front of goal."   

Serge Gnabry: "It was a good test of our abilities. We came up against a side that played some very good football, especially in the first half. We had a lot of running to do and unfortunately we passed up too many chances, otherwise we’d have won. We haven’t had much preparation time yet – we gave our all today."