- Kyriakos Papadopoulos (76')
Hamburg's Kyriakos Papadopoulos haunts parent club Leverkusen
On loan from Bayer Leverkusen, defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos scored against his parent club to earn Hamburg a 1-0 victory in the Bundesliga on Friday.
Papadopoulos joined Hamburg in the winter transfer window, arriving via Leipzig, where Leverkusen sent him on loan at the beginning of the season after his previous season was marred by injuries.
Papadopoulos struck with a quarter-hour remaining, heading inside the far post after Nicolai Muller lobbed in a hopeful cross. He ran to the corner to celebrate before running to embrace under-pressure Hamburg coach Markus Gisdol, familiar from their time together at Schalke.
The goal lifted Hamburg, who had lost both league games this year, into the relegation playoff place ahead of the rest of the 19th round, while Leverkusen face a mini-crisis after their second successive defeat.
Roger Schmidt's side were playing their first game without Hakan Calhanoglu, suspended the day before for four months by FIFA for breach of contract after the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected his appeal.
Leverkusen contributed nothing of note in the first half -- not even a cross -- prompting Schmidt to send on forward Stefan Kiessling for the second.
But it was U.S. international Bobby Wood who went close at the other end, shooting just wide after Muller set him up with his heel, and Hamburg continued pushing until Papadopoulos duly claimed the reward.
Game Information
German Bundesliga Standings
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bayer Leverkusen | 31 | 25 | 6 | 0 | +55 | 81 |
| Bayern Munich | 32 | 22 | 3 | 7 | +49 | 69 |
| VfB Stuttgart | 32 | 21 | 4 | 7 | +34 | 67 |
| RB Leipzig | 32 | 19 | 6 | 7 | +38 | 63 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 32 | 17 | 9 | 6 | +24 | 60 |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 31 | 11 | 12 | 8 | +5 | 45 |
| SC Freiburg | 32 | 11 | 8 | 13 | -12 | 41 |
| TSG Hoffenheim | 32 | 11 | 7 | 14 | -8 | 40 |
| FC Augsburg | 32 | 10 | 9 | 13 | -8 | 39 |
| Werder Bremen | 32 | 10 | 8 | 14 | -9 | 38 |
| 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 | 31 | 9 | 10 | 12 | -8 | 37 |
| VfL Wolfsburg | 32 | 10 | 7 | 15 | -11 | 37 |
| Borussia Monchengladbach | 32 | 7 | 12 | 13 | -7 | 33 |
| 1. FC Union Berlin | 31 | 8 | 6 | 17 | -24 | 30 |
| VfL Bochum | 31 | 6 | 12 | 13 | -25 | 30 |
| Mainz | 31 | 5 | 13 | 13 | -17 | 28 |
| FC Cologne | 32 | 4 | 12 | 16 | -30 | 24 |
| SV Darmstadt 98 | 32 | 3 | 8 | 21 | -46 | 17 |
Bundesliga News