HSV stun Bayern in enthralling draw

HSV were scoreless in their last five games against Bayern, but they had the first two chances here with a deflected effort from Fabio Vieira and Luka Vušković’s header from a corner-kick.

However, they start to feel the heat after the ten-minute mark. First, HSV fans were worried for the worst after Daniel Elfadli and Nicolás Capaldo’s challenges in the space of a couple of minutes. The first was on Michael Olise inside the box, while the second could have resulted in a straight red card if viewed as a last-man foul on Harry Kane.

Luckily for the hosts, Harm Osmers and his refereeing team deemed there was no wrongdoing in both cases. Heuer Fernandes’ first saves followed right after as the goalkeeper denied Olise and Lennart Karl.

On his return to the side after two games, Manuel Neuer had his trademark moment outside of the penalty box before parrying away Copaldo’s attempt at the other end. It was a lively opening exchange, but the best chances were yet to come with Joshua Kimmich playing a starring role.

The midfielder rattled the crossbar with a powerful hit before he conceded a penalty-kick for a foul on Nicolai Remberg. Albert Lokonga seemed to take the penalty until he handed the ball to the player he first met at Arsenal. Fábio Vieira scored from the spot despite Neuer diving in the right direction.

Less than ten minutes after going behind, Bayern leveled the score as Kane scored from Kimmich’s cutback inside a crowded box. Boosted with their first goal in this fixture for over 500 minutes, HSV’s spirit was still there after the equalizer.

Neuer made decent saves in injury-time from Vieira and Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer, although offside calls would’ve been made on both occasions. On his return to Volksparstadion, Vincent Kompany made a half-time substitution to introduce Luiz Diaz in place of out-of-form Karl.

And, the Colombian needed less than a minute to put the visitors ahead for the first time. Following Bayern’s best attacking move of the night, Diaz scored his tenth Bundesliga goal. Unsurprisingly, the delightful assist came from Olise for his 16th of the season.

However, HSV were still in the game as Vieira missed a glorious chance with a first-time shot. A few minutes later, Luka Vuskovic leveled the score with his fourth Bundesliga strike as the Tottenham Hotspur loanee headed home an excellent delivery from William Mikelbrencis.

Merlin Polzin’s side were winless in five games before this one, with goalless draws against fellow relegation-threatened sides Borussia Mönchengladbach and St. Pauli in the last two. They surprisingly showed up against their old foes, though. It was a huge contrast from the reverse fixture, where Bayern were leading 4-0 inside the first 30 minutes.

Bayern hit the woodwork after a scramble in HSV’s box following a corner-kick, but the hosts managed to slow down the game after their sensational equalizer. They even gave Bayern more scares in the final third, but Alphonso Davies made a goalline clearance to deny the lively Vieira.

Bayern’s best chance to steal all three points came in the 90th minute from a deflected shot by substitute Jamal Musiala. Elfadli, who was involved in Bayern’s penalty-kick shout in the first half, avoided another scare despite multiple players from the visiting side asking for a handball inside the box from the following corner-kick.

Dortmund will now have the chance to close the gap with Bayern to six points if they beat Heidenheim at home on Sunday. Hamburg are only a point ahead of 16th-placed Mainz, but they’ll take heart from one of their best performances in their return to the Bundesliga.

Bayern will host the in-form Hoffenheim side next week before a cup action against RB Leipzig. They're now winless in two league games for the first time this season. HSV’s next game is against Heidenheim away from home.