HSV coach Walter now wants to “stay up there”

Tim Walter was clearly in a bad mood. Although his HSV, unbeaten for weeks, continues to lead the table in the 2nd Bundesliga, they unexpectedly dropped two points in the 1-1 (0-0) against promoted FC Kaiserslautern. "Shit" is the feeling, he admitted shortly after the final whistle in the Sport1 interview.

"I'm pissed because we didn't close the sack, but what doesn't kill us toughens us up," he summarized after the partial success. When asked how he thinks that HSV is at the top of the overall standings after a third of the season, the 46-year-old said quickly: "We want to stay up there."

In fact, the Hamburgers lead the table with 25 points ahead of Darmstadt 98 (24) and SC Paderborn (22) after starting the season with the best points in the fifth year. But the lead could have been two points more if the Hanseatic League had used their chances better. After the early lead through Robert Glatzel's seventh goal of the season (24th minute), there were chances to score on both sides, as the bold promoted team from the Palatinate countered vigorously.

The sticking point of the game, however, was the penalty missed by Sonny Kittel (81st), which in turn punished Lex-Tyger Lobinger abruptly (82nd). With his first professional goal, the son of the former pole vaulter Tim Lobinger snatched a possible sixth win in a row from HSV and thus set a club record from 1978/79. At that time, under coach Branko Zebec, the German championship was later certain, this time it should finally work in the fifth attempt with the Bundesliga return.

But HSV must improve significantly for this, said goal scorer Glatzel, who, unlike his coach, classified the division of points as performance-based. “We can't be satisfied with our performance and didn't deserve the win today. Even if we had the great opportunity to put the lid on it: overall it was a fair draw,” the 28-year-old center forward admitted.

With his 29th goal, he caught up with Kittel as HSV's top scorer in the lower house. Both top scorers were eligible for penalties, but Kittel prevailed in the end. "We chatted briefly. We both wanted to shoot, in the end he shot. So far, we've always settled that among ourselves," said Glatzel, who didn't want to go any further because he too had failed from the point in HSV dress.

The fact that the derby at city rivals FC St. Pauli is due on Friday (6.30 p.m. / Sky) is just right for Glatzel. There it is important to regain the two lost points. Especially since the troubled Kiezkicker haven't won seven games in a row. "The derby win is a must, that's clear," said Glatzel. Although the statistics (4 wins, 2 draws, 2 defeats) speak in favor of the brown-whites after four years together in the 2nd Bundesliga, the current form clearly favors the red pants. After all, they have all won their last eight away games across the season.

FC St. Pauli, on the other hand, has had to take a completely different approach for a long time. The neighborhood club hasn't gone to a Hamburg football derby in such a bad way for a long time. Ironically, before the season highlight, the team finally arrived in crisis. After the bitter 1:2 (0:0) last-minute defeat at Eintracht Braunschweig and seven games without a win, the Kiezkicker are stuck in the relegation zone of the 2nd Bundesliga for the time being. It was significant that this time there was also bad luck in addition to the lack of luck: First, two St. Pauli top performers had to leave the field injured early on, then Eintracht noble joker Immanuel Pherai scored with the last action in the game - seconds later, St. Pauli suffered the next setback Celebration.

While the still goalless striker Igor Matanovic struggled for the right words, but then aptly stated that it was "just shit on the whole", substitute captain Eric Smith made the escape to the front. "A derby is exactly what we need at the moment. It's the best game you can have after a defeat like that," said the defensive midfielder. And verbally went on the offensive: "We'll try to get the momentum on our side."