Hamburg humbled by Nürnberg
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Article summary
Hamburger SV lost further ground on FC Bayern München after a shock defeat by 1. FC Nürnberg, while VfB Stuttgart were undone by a familiar face.
Article body
Hamburger SV lost further ground on Bundesliga leaders FC Bayern München after a shock 2-1 defeat by relegation-threatened 1. FC Nürnberg, as their new signings failed to make an impact. Indeed, it was a good day all round for Bayern as Hertha BSC Berlin and VfB Stuttgart also failed to win.
Quick-fire comeback
Hamburg went into their game against Nürnberg with high hopes of building on the nine-game unbeaten run they took into the winter break after signing Ailton and Dutch starlet Nigel de Jong this week. And after a sluggish start Thomas Doll's side took the lead just after the hour mark courtesy of an Andreas Wolf own goal. But their lead lasted just three minutes before Ivan Saenko equalised and substitute Stefan Kiessling then made it 2-1 with eleven minutes remaining and there was no way back for Hamburg.
Bayern benefit
The result leaves Bayern, who defeated VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 on Friday, nine points clear at the summit, although Werder Bremen can close the gap to eight if they can win at DSC Arminia Bielefeld on Sunday. Fourth-placed FC Schalke 04 are also in action tomorrow, and should they beat 1. FC Kaiserslautern the gap to fifth will widen to seven points after Hertha and Stuttgart both failed to record victories.
Imperious Caligiuri
Stuttgart will be especially disappointed after seeing Italian midfielder Marco Caligiuri come back to haunt them, scoring the only goal of the game just before half-time in his first outing since leaving the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion to join MSV Duisburg. Hertha almost lost their match against Hannover 96 by the same scoreline as they trailed to a 12th-minute Christoph Dabrowski goal before Dutch defender Dick van Burik salvaged a point with a last-minute header.
Disappointing debuts
With Duisburg and Nürnberg both picking up points, 1. FC Köln were cast further adrift at the foot of the table as Swiss coach Hanspeter Latour's debut ended in a 4-2 defeat at 1. FSV Mainz 05, with Michael Thurk scoring twice for the home team. Klaus Augenthaler endured a similarly disappointing introduction to life as VfL Wolfsburg coach after Christian Wörns, Euzebiusz Smolarek and Salvatore Gambino were all on target in a 3-2 loss to BV Borussia Dortmund. Elsewhere, Bayer 04 Leverkusen beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1.
