Hamburg 3 Aston Villa 1
Dec 18 2008 by Bill Howell, Birmingham Post
Guzan who did well to even get the faintest of fingertips to it.
Petric was almost played in again a few minutes later but Carlos Cuellar did just enough to block his path on the edge of the six-yard box as they fought for Piotr Trochowski’s ball from the right.
Half-an-hour gone and it was 2-0 when Dennis Aogo linked with Marcell Jansen down the left and curled an inch-perfect cross into the six-yard box which had Villa’s defence all at sea.
Both Petric and Bosko Balaban’s former Croatian strike partner Ivica Olic were hungry enough to want the ball. Cuellar was beaten and Olic planted a simple chance beyond Guzan.
At the other end Gardner snatched at a golden chance and fired inches over the crossbar from the edge of box.
Villa were saved by the crossbar moments before half-time after Jansen scampered away from Moustapha Salifou and sent a wondrous left-foot shot crashing against the underside of the woodwork.
Villa were under pressure as soon as the half opened and it soon got even worse.
Seconds after Gardner was clattered in one penalty box by goalkeeper Frank Rost as he attempted to get on the end of a fine Luke Young cross, Hamburg broke with Olic out-pacing Cuellar to a huge clearance down the middle from Joris Mathijsen.
The Spaniard held his shirt back inside the area, but rather than go down Olic kept his feet, shrugged off the challenge and finished past Guzan with consummate ease.
It was almost 4-0 when Guzan made a hash of Trochowski’s shot only to see the ball squirm wide of goal.
Then Olic, scenting a hat-trick, headed wide from the resultant corner with the goal at his mercy.
Scottish playmaker Barry Bannan come on to replace the hobbling Gardner, who looked to have a nasty knee injury, for his debut.
But it was too easy for the home side who were even afforded the luxury of replacing Olic with more than 20 minutes remaining.
Reo-Coker drove across the face of goal and wide from inside the box in a rare moment of excitement for Villa’s 2,000- strong travelling support.
Delfouneso reduced the arrears with a close range finish from Cuellar’s cross-cum-shot, but within a minute Villa were down to 10 men when Sidwell was sent off for grabbing Jarolim after a foul on Collin Benjamin 18 minutes earlier.
Villa fluffed four chances to reduce the arrears further in the dying seconds. Marlon Harewood shot against Rost’s legs from close range then headed the rebound straight at the keeper.
Delfouneso couldn’t get his shot past Rost and finally Reo-Coker blazed horribly wide.
Back came Hamburg with Guzan saving well from Anis Ben-Hatira with Jarolim hitting the rebound against the top of the crossbar.
