10-man 1899 Hoffenheim earn hard fought 3-2 victory

Marco Pezzaiuoli made one change to the side that unexpectedly won against Schalke 04 last weekend as Gylfi Sigurdsson came in for the flu-ridden Boris Vukcevic. Marco Kurz, his opposite number, had to do without the defensive rock that is Martin Amedick, who was replaced by Mathias Abel.

The match started at a frantic pace and referee Peter Sippel was called into action straightaway when Ibisevic was brought down just outside the box, but Sigurdsson couldn't convert the resulting free kick. 10 minutes in and the visitors had their first chance with Rodnei heading close after a Kaiserslautern set piece, Tom Starke was equal to the effort though. Hoffenheim were taking a patient approach to breaking their opponents down, but the visitors were dangerous on the break and regularly caused the Hoffenheim back line problems with their movement. The game began to get very physical after the quarter hour mark with Florian Dick receiving yellow for a strong tackle on Salhovic. Moments later though and Hoffenheim had found the breakthrough after a superb counter attack. Rudy found Salihovic in space with a splendid pass and the Bosnian crashed a shot towards goal. Goalkeeper Thomas Sippel made the save, but could only spill it into the path of the oncoming Sigurdsson who had the easy task of slamming home for 1-0.

The goal saw the game pick up in tempo with the front lines of both teams putting pressure on the opposition defence, however, neither team could cut out their turnovers, giving the ball regularly. Then in the 40th minute Salihovic found Rudy whose cross was aimed at Vedad Ibisevic, the Bosnian didn't get a touch, but it didn't need one as Sippel was rooted to the spot and could only was the ball nestled itself in the corner of the net. It sent the home side in at half time, thrilled with their first 45 minutes and a two-goal lead to boot.

No changes for Pezzaiuoli during the break as 1899 began piling on the pressure again immediately after half-time with Sigurdsson again testing Sippel in goal, but the goalkeeper managed to get enough on the shot to put it behind for a corner. Hoffenheim were dominating inside their home stadium, but against the run of play it was the visitors that found the back of the net. Salihovic misplaced his pass in midfield to get the move going and it ended with a goal for Kaiserslautern as substitute Erwin Hoffer, who scored both goals in the match earlier this season, was on hand to poke home the rebound on the 58th minute after Starke had saved well. Then to turn the game right on it's head, Kaiserslautern scored their second goal in as many minutes to draw level. Rodnei reacted fastest to get to a free kick with his head and did enough with his effort to divert it past Starke in goal.

The fans inside the Rhein-Neckar Arena were visibly shocked by what was happening, but Pezzaiuoli's men kept going as the pushed to find a winner in a match they thought they had under control. They found it a few minutes later when Salihovic linked up with his compatriot Ibisevic for the umpteenth time and the Bosnian was clinical with his finish to put the home side back in front. The game opened up somewhat and Pezzaiuoli made a defensive change taking of goal scorer Ibisevic and allowing Edson Braafheid to make his debut for 1899 Hoffenheim. It was anything, but the perfect first match though as 6 minutes later Braafheid was shown a straight red card and sent for an early shower. After a strong tackle with Christian Tiffert, the Dutchman seemed to stamp on his opposing player resulting in a sending off for the debutant and a yellow card for Tiffert. A man down, Pezzaiuoli brought on Vukcevic for Sigurdsson, while Marco Kurz replaced Thanos Petsos with Adam Nemec. FCK threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Kraichgau outfit, but Pezzaiuoli's men stood strong and held their opponents at bay to claim a crucial three points and a deserved victory.