25-07-15: TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (n) 1-2 (HT 1-1) Crowd (2,824)

On 25th July 2015 United took on TSG 1899 Hoffenheim at Lillestrom SK's home ground in the Arasen Stadion to the East of Oslo in Norway. There were several changes to the starting eleven as Coach Uwe Rosler tried to give his potential first team players valuable game time. New signing Chris Wood made his debut as striker and on loan Tom Adeyemi was given his first start in the team which started as follows: Marco Silvestri; Gaetano Berardi, Souleymane Bamba, Giuseppe Bellusci, Charlie Taylor; Tom Adeyemi, Lewis Cook, Alex Mowatt, Sam Byram, Souleymane Doukara; Chris Wood. Uwe Rosler had anticipated a stern test from the Bundesliga side and his views were confirmed after just two minutes as Mark Uth, the Hoffenheim midfielder unleashed an unstoppable volley to beat Marco Silvestri in the top corner. There was more bad news for United after just fifteen minutes as Lewis Cook limped out of the game to be replaced by Kalvin Phillips. Ten minutes later United were level as they performed a well-worked corner routine in which Alex Mowatt floated his flag kick to the far post, where Sam Byram climbed highest to head back across goal to Souleymane Doukara, who in turn flicked it into the path of Tom Adeyemi, who scored his first Leeds goal as he swept the ball into the net from six yards. The goal helped United's confidence and they came more into the game, but they went to the break at one goal each, and mainly due to the heroics of Marco Silvestri, it stayed that way until the sixty-seventh minute when one of the Hoffenheim substitutes, Steven Zuber, scored from close range. As in previous pre-season games Uwe Rosler rang the changes in the second half at regular intervals. In the sixty-first minute he sent on Mirco Antenucci to replace Souleymane Doukara and four minutes later Liam Cooper was given the left back berth in place of Charlie Taylor. There was ten a double substitution in the eightieth minute as Lee Erwin replaced Sam Byram and Steve Morison came on for Chris Wood. Four minutes later Casper Sloth replaced Tom Adeyaemi and in the next minute Lewis Walters came on for Alex Mowatt. This left Marco Silvestri, Gaetano Berardi, Souleymane Bamba and Giuseppe Bellusci as the only players to remain on the field for the whole ninety minutes, while goalkeepers Ross Turnbull and Charlie Horton, together with Lewie Coyle and Scott Wootton remained unused on the bench, as United went down 1-2. Hoffenheim: Oliver Baumann, Fabian Schar, Jonathan Schmid, Tobias Strobl, Jeremy Toljan, Pirmin Schwegler, Mark Uth, Jin-Su Kim, Niklas Sule, Philipp Ochs, Kevin Volland. Subs. Jens Grahl, Sebastian Rudy, Steven Zuber, Nadiem Amiri, Tarik Elyounoussi, Nicolai Rapp, Adam Szalai, Joshua Mees, Benedikt Gimber, Grischa Promel, Joelinton, Kingsley Schindler, Patrick Kapp.

Teamsheet:

MATCH REPORT: Leeds United vs Hoffenheim – report: The 72 By Graham Smeaton: 25-07-2015

After Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt, Leeds United travelled to Norway to face another German side in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. Leeds fans were buoyed by the knowledge that The Whites put in a decent performance against a calibre of opponent that they will likely not meet in the Championship. At times, The Whites were opened up by a quality attack but they also showed a composure that was lacking at times during last season in the Championship. So, going into the game in Lillestrom against Hoffenheim, Leeds and their fans would have a sense of uplifted hope. That was smashed early on as Hoffenheim’s Mark Uth hit a sweet volley beyond Marco Silvestri in only the second minute of the game. Hoffenheim began to push this advantage and definitely had the better of the following exchanges. Leeds’ first chance came on nine minutes after a foul on Leeds United new boy Tom Adeyemi. Alex Mowatt lined up the free kick, only for Chris Wood to glance a header wide. This sparked a flurry of activity from both sides as Leeds began to come more into the game. Both sides had chances with first, on thirteen minutes, a Hoffenheim corner leading to a scramble and Sol Bamba having to clear off the line. Lewis Cook went off on the fifteen minute mark after taking an early knock, replaced by Kalvin Phillips. Still the Germans began to push and an Uth header hit the crossbar after twenty minutes but the German had already been flagged offside. On twenty-one minutes, Souleymane Doukara provided Leeds with a chance, a glanced header just wide from a Kalvin Philips ball in. Four minutes later, in the twenty-fifth minute, Leeds United had their equaliser, the impressive Doukara playing an important part in the build up. A Mowatt corner in was played on by Sam Byram and a flicked Doukara header ended up with Adeyemi who stroked the ball home on the volley. Still Hoffenheim continued to press and £14m-rated attacking winger/forward Kevin Volland raced through on goal in the thirty-first minute but a last-ditch challenge from Giuseppe Bellusci prevented Leeds United falling 2-1 behind. Much to’ing-and-fro’ing between the two sides led to almost a football tug-o-war and the only incident of note was a crunching tackle by Kalvin Phillips on Volland which resulted in a yellow card for the Leeds United youngster. Hoffenheim came out from half time the stronger and again their goalscorer Uth saw a chance hit the woodwork after forty-nune minutes, this time a looping header, but as with the last time the whistle had already gone for an offside. Still the Germans pressed and half time substitute Tarik Elyounoussi raced through on goal but a fine stop from Marco Silvestri denied him the chance to put Hoffenheim 2-1 ahead. Leeds made a substitution on sixty-one minutes, the impressive Doukara leaving the field and Italian Mirco Antenucci taking his place as Leeds United switched to a 4-4-2 formation. The tide was flowing Hoffenheim’s way and Leeds were fighting against the current to some degree, with The Whites being indebted to a Silvestri save, after sixty-three minutes, to deny a Jonathan Schmid free kick. Leeds United made a change on sixty-five minutes, left back Charlie Taylor coming off and being replaced by Liam Cooper. Two minutes later, in the sixty-seventh minute Hoffenheim took the lead, a quick break down Leeds’ left side leading to a cross into the box and a simple tap-in from Steven Zuber from close range. Leeds substitute Antenucci showed good technique to fashion a chance after being played in by Alex Mowatt. With the ball at his feet, the Italian striker worked the defender and created himself some space before firing a shot towards the bottom right corner, a defelction taking the ball wide. Leeds made a double substitution in the eightieth minute with Steve ‘The Shift’ Morison and Lee Erwin replacing Chris Wood and Sam Byram; a further change coming on eighty-four minutes as goalscorer Tom Adeyemi made way for Casper Sloth. Leeds’ final substitution of the game came on eighty-five minutes as Lewis Walters came on for Alex Mowatt, the game seemingly petering towards a draw. Then, two chances for Leeds in the space of just over a minute raised the tempo of the game somewhat. First, after eighty-seven minutes, a ball over the top from Gaetano Berardi found ‘The Shift’ at full gallop as both he and Mirco Antenucci sprang the offside trap. As the Leeds forwards bore down on the Hoffenheim goal, Morison decided to square to Antenucci but Hoffenheim’s Baumann rushed off his line to gather. Moments later, after eighty-eight minutes, ‘The Shift’ put in a cross from the right wing and Lee Erwin, a recent substitute hammered a half-volley against one of the Hoffenheim defenders, that spurned chance being the game’s last significant play.