Joelinton rescues dramatic draw but Hoffenheim rue errors
October 23, 2018
Hoffenheim 3-3 Lyon
(Kramaric 33', 46', Joelinton 90+2' - Traore 27', Ndombele 59', Depay 66')
Despite the injury-time goal that keeps Hoffenheim's Champions League hopes alive, Julian Nagelsmann will know that his team can't keep shooting themselves in the foot and hope to progress.
Like Hoffenheim's last Champions League game, when Ishak Belfodil gave them a lead but they eventually lost to Manchester City, this one started at a frantic pace, with the two sides trading chances and defensive howlers.
Read more: 'The best is yet to come' Nelson making his mark at Hoffenheim
And it was from one of those howlers that the visitors took the lead. Oliver Baumann played a goal kick short to his captain Kevin Vogt but the return ball was woefully underhit, allowing Bertrand Traore to round Baumann and tap home.
Hosts find joy down the right
The intensity didn't let up and Hoffenheim came roaring back against a team with Champions League pedigree far outstripping their own. They soon got their reward when Pavel Kaderabek's cross found its way to Andrej Kramaric and the Croatian striker chested the ball down before stabbing home from close range.
The home side were now very much in the ascendancy and Kaderabek was proving a consistent threat. The Czech international created opportunites for Belfodil and Adam Szalai before having a decent penalty appeal turned down, leaving things level at the break.
If the coaches asked their charges to calm things down after the break, they were ignored. Afer 30 seconds Memphis Depay was free in the box and inches from reaching a cross. Then Hoffenheim were ahead, Kramaric again took down a cross – this time from Kerem Demirbay – and repeated his finish.
The hosts were a blur of blue shirts and Lyon couldn't cope, Demirbay missed a golden chance to put his side two up before they sabotaged themselves again. Traore's pass was brilliant but the angle was tight for Tanguy Ndombele. The young French midfielder struck his shot well but Baumann should have done more than parry in to his own net.
Dramatic finale
Another chance soon came Szalai's way and he spurned it. Depay wasn't feeling so generous and took advantage of yet another Hoffenheim error to give Lyon the lead once again. This time it was Kevin Akpoguma who was at fault. The center back totally mis-judged a long ball, was robbed and could only watch as Depay glided in to the box and stroked home.
Naglesmann threw on Reiss Nelson, surprisingly left out after his brace at the weekend, to try and rescue the situation. But it was Vogt who looked to have spurned the best opportunity, screwing his free header wide and failing to atone for his early mistake.
That looked like being a fitting metaphor for Hoffenheim's group stage so far, but Joelinton swept home Nico Schulz's low cross to offer Nagelsmann hope that talent and heart can overcome errors. The return fixture in Lyon on November 7 now looks critical to his team's hopes.
Champions League results, Tuesday October 23:
Group E:
AEK Athens 0-2 Bayern Munich
Ajax 1-0 Benfica
Group F:
Hoffenheim 3-3 Lyon
Shakhtar Donetsk 0-3 Manchester City
Group G:
Roma 3-0 CSKA Moscow
Real Madrid 2-1 Plzen
Group H:
Young Boys Bern 1-1 Valencia
Manchester United 0-1 Juventus