Heidenheim friendly ends in defeat

New signing Angelo Stiller made his debut for TSG Hoffenheim and was included in the starting XI. However, the midfielder saw TSG fall behind to an early goal. Philipp Pentke lost possession of the ball in his own penalty area, gifting Heidenheim's Kleindienst a simple tap-in in the sixth minute. TSG subsequently gained a better foothold in the game but did not create enough chances. Maximilian Beier missed the best opportunity around the half-hour mark. Pentke then made a strong save in the 33rd minute to prevent Kühlwetter from making it 2-0.

Head coach Sebastian Hoeness introduced Kevin Akpoguma, Sargis Adamyan and Munas Dabbur at the interval. Though TSG were more dominant thereafter, they could not translate that superiority into goals. Hoeness completely rotated his team in what remained of the match, handing playing time to several academy players. In total, 22 players were fielded.

Håvard Nordtveit had a big opportunity to score a late equaliser following a 90th-minute corner, but the Norwegian headed over the bar. "It was a match in which we gave many talented youngsters playing time. We were still missing several experienced players due to the Euros or injury. But all in all, it was a decent test directly before heading to our training camp, against an ambitious second-tier club who are just about to start their season. We will now head to the Tegernsee for an intense week of preparation," said head coach Hoeness after the match. 

1. FC Heidenheim will kick off their 2021/22 Bundesliga 2 campaign against SC Paderborn next week. TSG, meanwhile, will travel straight to their Tegernsee training camp after the final whistle. Hoffenheim will play their next friendly on 24 July (15:00 CET), when they take on SpVgg Greuther Fürth at the FC Rottach-Egern training complex.

TSG Hoffenheim line-up: Pentke (Philipp, 60) – Gaćinović (König, 70), Adams (Akpoguma, 46), Vogt (Nordtveit, 60), John (Geschwill, 70) – Bogarde (Bischof, 70), Stiller (Rüth, 70) – Rudy (Zaiser, 70) – Beier (Bebou, 60), Bruun Larsen (Adamyan, 46) – Rutter (Dabbur, 46)

Goal: 1-0 Kleindienst (6)

Match facts and statistics »