achtzehn99-Review

November 2009

1899 Hoffenheim continued to show good performances on away pitches, where they won both games against Freiburg and Köln. Whlie at home in the Rhein-Neckar-Arena they suffered defeats to Wolfsburg and Dortmund. Ralf Rangnick's team fails to establish themselves at the top of the standings due to poor result gathering at home.

01.11.: SC Freiburg vs. 1899 Hoffenheim 0-1
1899 Hoffenheim emerge victorious from the Baden-derby defeating SC Freiburg by 1-0. Right from the off, Hoffenheim were the dominant team putting the hosts under pressure and forcing Robin Dutt's side to making mistakes. Imprecision in front of Freiburg's goal, though, denied the guests a more commanding lead before the half-time whistle. Freiburg began the second half well and managed to create chances themselves. After a while, however, Hoffenheim regained control and had plenty of late possibilities to seal the victory with a second goal. The score does not fully mirror the course of the game in which Hoffenheim were clearly the stronger of the two sides.

07.11.: 1899 Hoffenheim vs. VfL Wolfsburg 1-2
1899 Hoffenheim suffered their first defeat of the season against Armin Veh's Wolfsburg side. After 1899 had dominated the first half, the home side struggled to press Wolfsburg as well as they had done in the first period. As a result, Wolfsburg began to exploit these spaces, and an equaliser came from Misimovic after poor defending. Thereafter, Hoffenheim were the weaker side, and Grafite soon put Wolfsburg ahead. Hoffenheim tried hard to get back into the game, but as they pressed, they left holes at the back for Wolfsburg to expose through counter attacks. Overall, based on their performance in the second half, it was a deserved victory for Wolfsburg.

21.11.: 1. FC Köln vs. 1899 Hoffenheim 0-4
1899 Hoffenheim outclassed 1. FC Köln at the RheinEnergieStadion, taking a 3-0 lead in at the break before sewing things up early in the second period. The visitors took their foot off the pedal somewhat in the closing stages, but managed to remain focussed throughout. Köln were unable to put the visitors under any serious pressure, creating next to no chances over the 90 minutes and allowing Hoffenheim to notch a deserved win and keep pace with the leading pack.

28.11.: 1899 Hoffenheim vs. Borussia Dortmund 1-2
After a weak first half by manager Rangnick's team, it was a much better performance in the second half. Dortmund were struggling after Ba's early equalizer and Hoffenheim pushed hard to get the lead. Dortmund then was awarded a penalty and converted it to put Hoffenheim behind once more. Maicosuel was then introduced into the game but shortly after that, the Brazilian was wrongly sent off with a straight red card. Consequently, Hoffenheim were no longer able to make use of the attacking potential with only ten men. In the end, it was a very unfortunate defeat.