FIRST TEAM
01/19/2014

Another friendly win – TSG beat Kasimpasar 4-1

TSG put in a good performance in front of 3,000 fans inside the Dietmar-Hopp-Stadion in their final friendly ahead of the Bundesliga return against Nürnberg (Saturday, January 25th at 15:30 CET). Hoffenheim were 4-1 winners against third-placed Turkish league side Kasimpasa thanks to goals from Sven Schipplock (2), Roberto Firmino and Eugen Polanski.

Markus Gisdol's side set the pace of the game early on. The Turkish visitors were often onlookers in the opening stages, barely getting close to TSG's fast-paced passing play. Sven Schipplock put Hoffenheim in front after just four minutes – Roberto Firmino played him in on the left-hand side of the box and the striker didn't give Sweden keeper Andreas Isaksson a chance with a low shot into the far corner of the goal. Less than a minute later, Firmino turned scorer, taking Jiloan Hamad's dinked pass under control in style and calmly lifting the ball over the on-rushing keeper to make it 2-0.

TSG kept their foot on the gas with Kasimpasar's defence struggling for respite. Schipplock thought he had made it 3-0 inside ten minutes, but the referee disallowed his goal feeling that the striker had been too aggressive when fighting for the ball. Sejad Salihovic also had a chance to add a third when he cut out a header back to the keeper, but he was unable to find the target. In the end, it was another bit of combination play between Firmino and Schipplock that provided the three-goal lead, with the latter side-footing home.

3-1 at the break

The visitors had barely troubled TSG keeper Koen Casteels in the first half, nevertheless they were able to open their account shortly before the interval. Oscar Ezequiel Scariona picked out the bottom corner with a powerful strike from 18 yards to make it 3-1 at half time.

The second 45 began with Hoffenheim once again on the front foot. Barely a minute had been played before Eugen Polanski had a pop from outside the box. His effort took a wicked deflection and looped into the goal past the scrambling Isaksson for 4-1. That goal sparked an array of substitutions for both sides, which took the pace out of the game.

Kasimpasa switched from 4-2-3-1 to 4-4-2 and were playing much more committed football. Fabian Johnson certainly felt the force of it. A tackle left the defender with a bruised thigh, meaning he had to be withdrawn. Sebastian Rudy also took a knock to the shin and hobbled off. Substitute for the visitors Tunay Torun had their best chance of the half, although Casteels was more than a match for it. Andreas Ludwig could have added a fifth for TSG, but in the end the game ended with a commanding 4-1 win for Markus Gisdol's men.

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