Bundesliga: Zero number in Heidenheim: goalless against Hoffenheim

Zero number at the end of the matchday: 1. FC Heidenheim and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim separated goalless. FCH is 10th after the eighth matchday of the Bundesliga, while Hoffenheim remains in the bottom of the table in 15th place with eight points.

Both teams will be challenged again on Wednesday – then in the DFB Cup. Heidenheim has to go to second division club Hertha BSC. Hoffenheim welcomes 1. FC Nürnberg with coach Miroslav Klose.

A central question arose before the national duel in the southwest: who coped better with the travel strains of the English week? Hoffenheim lost 2-0 away to FC Porto in the Europa League, while Heidenheim won 1-0 against Pafos FC in the Conference League in Cyprus.

First white smoke, then hardly anything going on

“The closer the cities are together, the more interesting it is. The game has a special charm,” said Hoffenheim coach Pellegrino Matarazzo before the game. Right at the start of the encounter, which was not very attractive on the pitch, both teams had to stop playing football for a short time after the visiting fans set off pyrotechnics and white smoke drifted across the pitch.

Heidenheim had the first good opportunity. A shot from defensive man Patrick Mainka from the edge of the penalty area roared over the crossbar (12th minute). Otherwise there was little going on in and around the penalty areas in the first half. Both teams shied away from taking risks and sometimes acted incorrectly. There was not a single shot on goal in the entire first half.

Hoffenheim turns up the heat after the break

That changed immediately after the restart when TSG striker Adam Hlozek finished. But his shot wasn’t a problem for FCH keeper Kevin Müller. A long-range shot from Florian Grillitsch, which went just over the Heidenheim goal (48th), was much more dangerous. The Kraichgauers continued to apply pressure and had their best chance of the game so far through attacker Marius Bülter. But Müller made a strong save against the 31-year-old (52′).

Baumann with a strong save

Both teams now created significantly more goalscoring danger. Hoffenheim’s Andrej Kramaric narrowly missed the goal (58′). On the other side, Leonardo Scienza was just a few centimeters away from taking the lead (60′).

Maximilian Breunig, who had just been substituted, had a huge opportunity to make it 1-0 for the home team. National goalkeeper Oliver Baumann directed his attempt from close range onto the crossbar with an outstanding reflex (71′). Shortly afterwards, Baumann was there again with a shot from Scienza. So in the end it remained 0-0.