Hamburger SV and SC Freiburg played out an exciting 2-2 draw in the Saturday evening fixture on matchday 21 in the Bundesliga. Aaron Hunt and Michael Gregoritsch fired the hosts in front twice at the Volksparkstadion, but Freiburg pulled back twice through Maximilian Philipp and Vincenzo Grifo, Olympic silver medallist Niels Petersen assisting both goals expertly. Two minutes before the end, Hunt passed up a golden chance to win it for HSV when his penalty was saved by Alexander Schwolow.
The result leaves Hamburg 15th in the table on 20 points, ahead of rivals Bremen (19), while Freiburg lie ninth on 30 points, just four off the Europa League spot.
Two last-minute changes for HSV
HSV were dealt a double-setback in the shortly before kick-off when Bobby Wood pulled out during the warm-up, after Nicolai Müller had withdrawn from the squad with a muscular problem earlier on Saturday morning. As a result, Markus Gisdol opted to play Hunt as the main striker ahead of Lewis Holtby and Filip Kostic.
It was the bold and assertive visitors who got off to the better start. Grifo and Christian Günther created an excellent chance, before Petersen’s effort towards the top corner struck the outside of the post. Hamburg struggled initially against Hamburg’s high defensive line, but soon took the lead with their first chance. Holtby nutmegged Marc Torrejon before squaring the ball across goal for Hunt to tuck away mid-stride.
Freiburg bounce back twice
Freiburg recovered quickly and continued to cause the HSV defence problems. Petersen handed the equaliser to Philipp on a plate and the Freiburg man tapped in from close range. Seven minutes later, Philipp fed Amir Abrashi after dispossessing Mergim Mavraj, but the forward passed on the chance to give his side the lead.
The game ebbed and flowed, but once again Hamburg struck during a dominant period for Freiburg. Holtby played in Gotoku Sakai who, on the right side of the penalty area, spotted the onrushing Gregoritsch and picked him out. Schwolow had no chance, such was the power of the power of the Austrian’s header. This time the lead lasted 15 minutes, before Petersen slotted through for Grifo, who needed no invitation to beat Rene Adler in the one-on-one battle.
Hamburg upped the tempo in the final phases and were awarded a penalty in the dying minutes. Having won the penalty himself, Hunt assumed responsibility for the spot-kick, but failed to convert.