He has not been in Bundesliga action for more than two months – and put in a solid performance against top-flight opponents Dortmund.
Jordan Torunarigha (28) was one of Hamburg’s defensive towers that enabled a 1-1 draw against BVB. The left-footed player won 14 of his 23 duels (61%), committed just one foul and was usually able to control opponents such as Maximilian Beier (23).
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He also used his sweeping action several times to quell dangerous situations, such as Dortmund’s Svensson (23) shot in the first half.
The HSV star is fighting against his failure image
Coach Merlin Polzin (35) assessed injured replacement Daniel Elfadli (28): “Today he tried to give his best again after a long time in the Bundesliga, it worked and is of course one of the reasons why we allowed few big chances.”
Apart from that, he was the most stable on the ball with 67 ball contacts (second most after Muheim/76) and with a pass rate of 83 percent.
Experienced center back (over 200 professional games) reports to HSV back and fighting against the image of his failure.
Around the start of the season, the summer signing (free transfer from Gent) who had been planned as head of defense received negative attention due to his frequent negligence (which he only showed sporadically against Dortmund in the first half), after which he was sidelined for a month and a half due to an Achilles tendon problem.
Recently, trained midfield players (Capaldo, Remberg) have been preferred to him at the back three times.
“The injury slowed him down,” explained Polzin. “He then put up a fight and during his absence our game improved even further. The players who were on the pitch played well. This is a completely normal process and you have to wait for the opportunity. Now it has arrived.”
And Torunarigha will be needed even longer: Elfadli, who injured his adductor in his right thigh during training on Friday, will be out for several games.
Looking at the current circumstances, it can be assumed that HSV will have to play without him for around four weeks – until around the northern derby against Werder (December 7). For Torunigha an opportunity to improve his image.
