Germany: Ibisevic’s hat trick sparks Hoffenheim
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...September 27, 2009
FRANKFURT (AP) — Vedad Ibisevic scored a hat trick Sunday, his first Bundesliga goals since a knee injury in January prematurely ended his season, as Hoffenheim thrashed Hertha Berlin 5-1. The win lifted Hoffenheim into third place, three points behind Hamburg SV and Bayer Leverkusen. The Bosnian forward needed only 44 seconds to open the scoring with a right-footed shot from a headed pass from Chinedu Obasi. Before the game was four minutes old Ibisevic had his second, rising to meet a corner from Carlos Eduardo and heading the ball into the upper right corner of the net. Hoffenheim were three up after a fine passing move that culminated with Andreas Beck crossing to Ibisevic, who clinched his first Bundesliga hat trick with a header at the near post. After Raffael had pulled one back in the final minute of the first half from a free kick, Hoffenheim restored its three-goal cushion when Obasi scored in the 58th. Ibisevic then earned a penalty which Eduardo converted to make the final score 5-1. Ibisevic, who left the game in the 67th to a standing ovation, topped the Bundesliga at the halfway mark last season with 18 goals in 17 games but then tore ligaments in his right knee in a friendly during the winter break. Hoffenheim then plunged in the standings to finish seventh in its first season in the top division. But Hoffenheim looks to have rediscovered its best form and with Ibisevic finding his touch again the small provincial team could yet be a title challenger. “I didn’t play so badly in the first six games but the goals were missing,” Ibisevic said. “I wanted the team to play well because I knew the goals would then come. We are playing better with every game.” Hertha, which itself topped the league for a few weeks last season, has lost six straight since winning its opener and is stuck in last place. Promoted Freiburg won its second straight match when it beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-0 in the other match Sunday. Freiburg, which won 4-0 at Hertha Berlin last week, scored its goals in the second half of a match it dominated. Mohamadou Idrissou opened the scoring in the 54th with a powerful header from a cross by Ivica Banovic. Yacine Abdessadki doubled the lead by drilling a shot in from 23 meters (yards) out and Julian Schuster completed the victory in the 80th, hitting the target with a deflected shot from the edge of the penalty area. On Saturday, Mladen Petric scored in the second half to lift Bundesliga leader Hamburger SV to a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich. The win left Hamburg atop the standings on goal difference over Bayer Leverkusen, which won 1-0 in Cologne. After seven rounds, both teams have 17 points and are the only two undefeated sides. Hoffenheim has 14. Bayern is now six points behind after its second loss of the season. In other matches, Eintracht Frankfurt suffered its first defeat of the season after losing 3-0 with 10 men at home to Stuttgart, Werder Bremen blanked Mainz 3-0 and Schalke won 1-0 at Borussia Dortmund to move into third, four points behind Hamburg and Leverkusen. Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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