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First home win for Düsseldorf

David RaishNovember 23, 2012

Early injuries looked like the story between Fortuna Düsseldorf and Hamburg. But a beautiful effort from Stefan Reisinger was the highlight of the evening, giving Düsseldorf their first league home win of the season.

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Fortuna Düsseldorf - Hamburger (Photo: dpa)
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

The game got off to a delayed start Friday evening after the travelling Hamburg fans set off flares that caused a small fire in the corner of the stadium that firemen had to extinguish. After the smoke subsided, the game kicked off.

Hamburg's first setback came in the 32nd minute, when star midfielder Rafael van der Vaart had to leave the game due to injury.

The Dutchman appeared to hurt his leg on an earlier clash with goalkeeper Fabian Giefer. Minutes later, he pulled up with a thigh injury, and could play no further part. Venezuelan Tomas Rincon came on to replace him.

Düsseldorf suffered an injury of their own in the 41st minute when Jens Langeneke limped off field with a leg injury, and replaced by Leon Balogun.

Düsseldorf pull away

Despite being pressured by Hamburg for the majority of the half, and retaining just 40 percent of possession, it was the hosts who scored the opening goal. With three minutes of stoppage time added due to injuries, Robbie Kruse capitalized in the 47th minute.

Andreas Lambertz played the ball through to Kruse on the left side of the box, and the in-form Australian's low shot beat Rene Adler at the near post.

The hosts doubled their lead in the 64th minute off a fantastic solo effort from substitute Stefan Reisinger. Picking the ball up on the right wing, Reisinger cut into the box and beat three separate defenders before sending his shot low past Adler.

First home win

The two goal cushion allowed Düsseldorf to sit back and focus on defending a Hamburg attack that never really recovered from the loss of van der Vaart.

It finished 2-0 and the win gave Düsseldorf their first home victory of the season in the Bundesliga, moving them out of the relegation zone and into 13th place.

Hamburg have a tough test coming up at home on November 27 when they face second-place Schalke in the first day of weekday games in the Bundesliga's "English Week" - so named for the many English clubs that often play midweek.

Düsseldorf travel to Borussia Dortmund next in what will surely be a difficult challenge against the two-time defending Bundesliga champions.