How Hamburg got a vital away win

As other matches in the Bundesliga had barely even got underway on Wednesday night, Hamburg were ahead against Paderborn after just 25 seconds through Rafael Van der Vaart.

After the interval, Joe Zinnbauer's side killed the game with a solid defensive performance, with goals from Marcell Jansen and Zoltan Stieber securing the points handsomely.

You can hear many shouting, ‘It's only Paderborn' – and while it's important to take the quality of the opposition into account, the astuteness to learn from previous mistakes is worthy of some credit. There are three things that HSV switched around on Wednesday to secure them the win.

Left-side tinker

In the 2-0 defeat at home to Cologne last weekend, Hamburg, despite controlling vast phases of the game, were punished ruthlessly on the counterattack. Jansen, an attacking left-back by nature, pushed forward in search of a decisive goal and left a gaping hole for Marcel Risse to pounce in two similar situations on the left-hand side.

That prompted Zinnbauer to shift Jansen to left-midfield with Ronny Marcos deputizing at left-back. Marcos, just 19, was targeted throughout by Paderborn for his petite size, but the former Hansa Rostock kid stood firm. He won the overwhelming majority of the high-balls thrown in his direction, which was impressive, while making a number of good interventions when part of a really narrow back-four.

Marcos' lack of experience was apparent in the second-half when Elias Kachunga sneaked on to the goal side of the left-back before tumbling over inside the box, which eventually went unpunished. A small blemish for the young defender following a relatively comfortable, albeit challenging, encounter.

The importance of Jansen, though, cannot go untouched. Jansen's defensive experience proved invaluable in shielding Marcos from two-v-one situations. Equally, the 29-year-old provided some thrust in his attacking moves from the left, offering a high-ball option and happy to dribble with the ball – his actions featured in all three of Hamburg's goals on the night.

No need to press

Hamburg were content to allow Paderborn's central-defenders the freedom to play with possession - the home side would go on to enjoy 62% of the ball with 391 completed passes - from a complete total of 498 - to Hamburg's seemingly meager 182.

But 53 passes went behind Captain Uwe Hunemeier and Jens Ziegler, the two central-defenders; a further 60 were exchanged between the back-five when you include keeper Lukas Kruse. It's this ability to turn inefficacious possession into incisive and quick-thinking combination football which separates the teams at the top from those at the bottom.

Even with Ivica Olic and Stieber in attack, Hamburg felt little urge to press as high as Paderborn's central-defenders. In fact, their defensive structure was pretty much condensed into a block 25 yards from their own goal and briefly into the opposition half. Within that range, the speed of Stieber, his willingness to track back, plus the inverted Nicolai Muller nullified any threat from Paderborn's central players.

Midfield runners

This is what Hamburg's plans ultimately hinged upon: when Olic dropped expectedly deep to win possession, or a flick-on, or look to take the ball into the feet, the onus was on Stieber to bomb beyond the Croatian striker.

The Austrian impressed and found himself as Hamburg's most advanced forward in parts of the game. But the work of Olic was refreshing; the Paderborn defense struggled to keep track of his movement, leaving large chunks of space for either Jansen or Stieber to exploit.

With Maximilian Beister making short strides to full recovery – he made his first appearance in a year at home to Cologne last week – and Lewis Holtby to return, options are in some stack for Zinnbauer and Hamburg. The benefits of having speed and intensity in attack were there for all to see in the relegation six-pointer.

Yes, it's just Paderborn – but an important comeback after last week's defeat.